nightmare before christmas
Topic: news
i know this is old news, but i can't seem to stop talking about it. with the re-release of tim burton's the nightmare before christmas came a reworked soundtrack, with an extra disk featuring covers by marilyn manson, fiona apple, and she wants revenge. is there a better way to spell fantastic? i don't think so.

sufjan stevens : town hall, nyc
Now Playing: the avalanche - sufjan stevens
Topic: concerts
oh, sufjan, i want you to be my best friend for ever and always. /sigh.

so, uh, my brightest diamond, that's this chick who is in sufjan's backing orchestra thing, she plays the guitar and sings and things... i didn't actually see her as i had to go late to the show. i heard she was good. which makes sense, because she's basically just a female compliment to sufjan.

which brings me to sufjan! hooray.
this tour is the majestic snowbird tour. what does that mean, you ask? well, friends, that means that mr. stevens was wearing an enormous pair of bird wings (he was the majestic songbird) and his backing orchestra (there is no other way to describe them) were all wearing matching uniforms and butterfly wings (they were his magical butterfly brigade). it was fantastic.
and, i mean, i THOUGHT i liked sufjan, but then i saw him, and it was like. it was intense, man. i almost cried. like four times. ironically the times when i almost cried were in songs such as "john wayne gacy, jr.," and "chicago" (he played something like the adult contemporary version but really it was like its own version, and by "its own version," i mean, FANTASTIC), but i don't think i teared up during "casimir pulaski day" which by all rights i should have but i was just way too excited that he was playing it to realize that i should be sad.
god, it was just so awesome. like it was all just so BIG. the music, i mean. it was enormous. and intense. oh, and then, behind the musicians, there was a video screen (and on the sides of the screen, silvery streamers that were about 20 feet tall... wow. wow sufjan wow. i was impressed. and still am.) anyway so this video screen, it played all kinds of footage, including an exciting sing-along during "they are night zombies!! they are neighbors!! they have come back from the dead!! ahhhh!" it also played footage of them messing around with superman things and just being on tour together and having exciting and jovial times. my life's goal, i think, now, is to be part of sufjan's crazy inner circle of traveling companions who get to be in such footage and travel all over the country and have crazy adventures and perhaps be an illinoisemaker. that perhaps would make my life.
did i mention it was intense?

regina spektor : town hall, nyc
Now Playing: soviet kitsch - regina spektor
Topic: concerts
first off, can i say that nobody in the world deserves to be like regina spektor, except for regina spektor. she is creepily gorgeous and can do insane things with her voice that leave me dumbfounded. that said: this show = omg.

the opening band, only son, had a weirdly charismatic lead singer who slurred all the important parts of things that he was saying. such as, "hey, we're mmmfhhmm!" or, "our myspace is myspace.com/only_mfffhmfmmfmmmm. the underscore was my idea. credit where credit is due, you know?" for some reason, he seemed incapable of actually articulating the band's name so i didn't figure it out until in between the sets when i went and bought their cd. also, i heard a rumor from a girl who knows a girl who's friends with someone in the band, so a really reputable source, but i heard that the lead singer is actually dating regina. i thought it would be cute and so i approve of that rumor.

then, regina. me oh my regina.
so she comes out on stage, completely solo, looking all shy and coy in her dress and boots, picks up a mic, and does a song using only her voice and tapping on the mic. it was insane. and by insane i mean amazingly good.
perhaps the best part about regina is how adorably shy she is on stage. she was all, "thank you for coming to my party," honestly, she said that, and she honestly seemed shocked at everyone being there to see her. i don't know how she hasn't realized what a complete and total success she is, but apparently, she doesn't quite grasp it. which i think is adorable. that's officially the last time i'm allowed to use that word.
she's such a comedienne, that regina. she played a song that i didn't recognize that involved drinking soapy water when washing dishes and then she retched during the song. it was hilarious. it really was. and i don't normally find things where you have to use a euphemism for "made noises like she was vomiting" altogether amusing. but it was very funny. kudos to regina, for her exemplary humor abilities!
also she played "ghost of corporate future" which made me very happy. and "poor little rich boy" which has always been one of my favorite songs by her. and i couldn't believe how fast she was singing when she was doing the "and you don't love your giiiirlfriend" part. it was nuts.
the entire show, my friends and i, we kept turning to each other and saying, "how does she DO that?" or "how is she so FRICKING AMAZING???" i do not know.
but i'm glad she does and is.