Night in NOLA
Oh, I am an old lady. It's true. Last night a friend and I headed to New Orleans for an Ingrid Michaelson show. We had some sushi and beers and walked around the Quarter and hit up a bar in Pirate's Alley and had a sazerac & a martini and it was all well and good. Ingrid did not go on until 10:00, by which time I am normally dead asleep, but I soldiered on for the cause!
The opening act was an English dreamboat named Greg Holden whose tweets about New Orleans are just as adorable as he is. Also, his voice is great and his songs were excellent. I bought his 4-song EP and am digging it already. I love opening acts who seem genuinely stoked, like they can't believe their good fortune. It's very endearing.
Ingrid Michaelson was really good. I have all her albums, and I always enjoy a show when I know every word of every song. I have mixed feelings about the audience. About two-thirds of the crowd: attentive, sang along, knew the songs, had fun and made merry. The rest: a horror. They just stood by the bar and ran their mouths at what I found to be a rude and distracting volume! Greg Holden tried to shush them (adorably, natch) to no avail. Even Ingrid tried to shush them for "The Chain," but no dice. Luckily that song builds to such a glorious degree that it drowned out the ridiculous cacophony of obnoxious undergraduates. I've decided 18 and over shows are for the birds. I really just wanted to kill them all but quickly realized I had to let it go and focus on the stage.
"The Chain" was the best song other than "You and I," which brought the entire band and opening act to the mic to sing in a very cute group fashion. Really, every song sounded great. I know a lot of people dismiss Ingrid Michaelson because of her prevalence on the likes of "Grey's Anatomy," but I think her songs are very beautiful and have a real sweetness and depth.
My only disappointment other than the loudmouths in the crowd was that she didn't play "Keep Breathing." How is that possible? I was looking forward to hearing it live because of the way it swells into major beautifulness. But c'est la vie. We still had a great time.
The opening act was an English dreamboat named Greg Holden whose tweets about New Orleans are just as adorable as he is. Also, his voice is great and his songs were excellent. I bought his 4-song EP and am digging it already. I love opening acts who seem genuinely stoked, like they can't believe their good fortune. It's very endearing.
Ingrid Michaelson was really good. I have all her albums, and I always enjoy a show when I know every word of every song. I have mixed feelings about the audience. About two-thirds of the crowd: attentive, sang along, knew the songs, had fun and made merry. The rest: a horror. They just stood by the bar and ran their mouths at what I found to be a rude and distracting volume! Greg Holden tried to shush them (adorably, natch) to no avail. Even Ingrid tried to shush them for "The Chain," but no dice. Luckily that song builds to such a glorious degree that it drowned out the ridiculous cacophony of obnoxious undergraduates. I've decided 18 and over shows are for the birds. I really just wanted to kill them all but quickly realized I had to let it go and focus on the stage.
"The Chain" was the best song other than "You and I," which brought the entire band and opening act to the mic to sing in a very cute group fashion. Really, every song sounded great. I know a lot of people dismiss Ingrid Michaelson because of her prevalence on the likes of "Grey's Anatomy," but I think her songs are very beautiful and have a real sweetness and depth.
My only disappointment other than the loudmouths in the crowd was that she didn't play "Keep Breathing." How is that possible? I was looking forward to hearing it live because of the way it swells into major beautifulness. But c'est la vie. We still had a great time.
posted by eliza @ 10:01 AM
3 Comments:
This is neat because of a couple things.
A - my wife and I just returned from a Nola vacation, so I actually am familiar with some of the places you talk about in this post.
B - We also found out we were 'old' in that we had more fun seeing things in daylight (aquarium, Zoo, swamp & city tours) and really left Bourbon St. to the 20 & 30 somethings - especially at night.
So Greg Holden is from Lancashire, and now I must immediately fall in love with him and send his link to all my friends.
You're becoming my radio station of choice, Elisa.
Brian -- I hope you had a really great time.
ladyloo -- Do it! He is adorable. I really do love his EP. The songs are beautiful.
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