We're living in a den of thieves, rummaging for answers in the pages
My roommate and I went to the Regina Spektor concert at Michigan Theater on Tuesday. I am moderately acquainted with Regina's music, and while I do enjoy her music, I've never gone through a period of obsessively listening, where I know every single lyric and can recognize a song from its beginning chords. So I was a litle unsure exactly how much I would enjoy this concert. I knew it would be good, but I was unprepared for just HOW good.
Because guys? It was SO GOOD.
The band Little Joy opened for Regina, and at first just one dude walked out and sang a sweet little song with just his guitar. Which was nice, but I was concerned about the rest of the set being more of the same, and me falling asleep. But after that, the rest of the band came out, and they ROCKED. Margaret ended up buying their CD, and she let me rip it. I really enjoyed their set, and they were a great opener for Regina.
Regina herself is so adorable, I can't even explain it. She's so SHY, especially for a performer. Multiple people kept screaming out how much they loved her (which was actually very audible, because it was small, seated venue, and most everyone was silent when a chorus of "I love you!" "I love you too!" and "I love you more!"s rang out). In response, she just ducked her head and giggled. When we gave her a standing ovation for the encore, she came back out and said "My cheeks hurt from smiling so much!" Adorable.
Her backing was a drummer, a cellist and a violinist. She mostly played piano, but rocked a keyboard and a guitar for a couple songs. Despite this, it was not a completely orchestral, mellow set. There was a lot of energy and the sound was so grand and loud, I definitely wouldn't have guessed there were only 2 string instruments backing her.
One really awesome part of the show was the lighting. Usually things like that don't really stand out to me, but this show did a particularly awesome job selecting specific colors for different moods, or even different tempos. Whenever Regina sped up and the song hit its high mark, the lights were a bright orange or red, and whenever it was mellow, it was a soft blue. They flashed in rhythm to Regina's piano playing at dramatic times, and for one particularly moving song, a bunch of lights shined onto a disco ball sitting in the back of the stage, showering the audience with broken light, while everything else was dark.
She played some of my favorite songs, and a lot from Far, the new album, which I am ashamed to say I have not yet heard. I know, I know.
SETLIST (not positive about the order). I put in YouTube links for some of my favorites, so check them out if you're interested.:
1. The Calculation
2. Eet - Her newest single, I believe.
3. Ode to Divorce
4. Machine
5. Two Birds
6. Folding Chair
7. Blue Lips - From the new album, so I didn't know it, but I remember really enjoying this song. It was more quiet and heartbreaking than my other favorites, but she sounded great.
8. On the Radio - This is maybe one more people know, since it was more recently released and did pretty well, I think. She opened the song saying that after playing in Chicago, she is renaming it to "On the Patio." There is a lyric in the song about bees stinging, and after the song ended, she explained that she recently learned from some beekeepers that "bees don't sting, it's yellow jackets. Bees are really cool! So now it's On the Patio, and I have to change the lyrics."
9. Dance Anthem of the 80s
10. Laughing With
11. One More Time With Feeling
12. Bobbing for Apples - Hilarious lyric: "Someone next door's fucking to one of my songs." For this song, she played by herself, on the guitar. She started playing, and then stopped to adjust her shirt, saying "It's a very complicated shirt, but it makes up with its shinyness." Adorable.
13. That Time - This video is live. One of my favorite songs. I don't know what it is about it, since it's pretty simple, but it's so happy while simultaneously depressing. And I love how she says "so sweet and JU!-cy." Also that bit where she thought she was going to be sick.
14. Apres Mois - She sings Russian in this, and it's beautiful. You guys know me and my linguistics love, but really, it was gorgeous live. There was no one backing her for this song either, just her and the piano.
15. Poor Little Rich Boy - For this one, there was no one backing her again, but they brought out a wooden chair and set it next to the bench. She then SIMULTANEOUSLY played the piano with her left hand, while hitting a drumstick on the chair with her right. It was so completely awesome. I cannot even comprehend the amount of talent it would take to sing, play piano, AND keep a drumming beat. It wasn't a simple song either, there were some complex moves going on there. I was very impressed. The video I linked is live, so you get to see her doing both too! It was even more awesome than this performance though. I guess since she's had 2 years to perfect it?
16. Human of the Year - Another from her new album that really struck me.
17. Man of a Thousand Faces
ENCORE: Basically the entire encore was my favorite part. She played four of my favorite songs in a row, and then a super cute closing number.
18. Samson - This is the song she played with the rest of the band in darkness, and the lights shining on the disco ball. It made an awesome song even awesomer. The video link isn't really a video, just the song.
19. Us
20. Fidelity - Love this song.
21. Hotel Song - This video is a live performance someone recorded. People did the clapping at our show too, but it was SO LOUD, you could barely hear Regina :(
22. Love, You're a Whore - When she introduced this song, she was like "this is a country song I wrote. *pause* Even though I'm not from the country." It was a cute little song, and it totally worked, even though it really doesn't sound like anything else she sings.
Wow, ok. Every time I go to a concert, I promise myself not to write a huge rambly post no one will read, but then I do anyway. Oops. You can blame desh. He asked for this! Anyway, in conclusion, Regina was fantastic, and I'll probably be going through one of my obsessive phases with her this week.
Because guys? It was SO GOOD.
The band Little Joy opened for Regina, and at first just one dude walked out and sang a sweet little song with just his guitar. Which was nice, but I was concerned about the rest of the set being more of the same, and me falling asleep. But after that, the rest of the band came out, and they ROCKED. Margaret ended up buying their CD, and she let me rip it. I really enjoyed their set, and they were a great opener for Regina.
Regina herself is so adorable, I can't even explain it. She's so SHY, especially for a performer. Multiple people kept screaming out how much they loved her (which was actually very audible, because it was small, seated venue, and most everyone was silent when a chorus of "I love you!" "I love you too!" and "I love you more!"s rang out). In response, she just ducked her head and giggled. When we gave her a standing ovation for the encore, she came back out and said "My cheeks hurt from smiling so much!" Adorable.
Her backing was a drummer, a cellist and a violinist. She mostly played piano, but rocked a keyboard and a guitar for a couple songs. Despite this, it was not a completely orchestral, mellow set. There was a lot of energy and the sound was so grand and loud, I definitely wouldn't have guessed there were only 2 string instruments backing her.
One really awesome part of the show was the lighting. Usually things like that don't really stand out to me, but this show did a particularly awesome job selecting specific colors for different moods, or even different tempos. Whenever Regina sped up and the song hit its high mark, the lights were a bright orange or red, and whenever it was mellow, it was a soft blue. They flashed in rhythm to Regina's piano playing at dramatic times, and for one particularly moving song, a bunch of lights shined onto a disco ball sitting in the back of the stage, showering the audience with broken light, while everything else was dark.
She played some of my favorite songs, and a lot from Far, the new album, which I am ashamed to say I have not yet heard. I know, I know.
SETLIST (not positive about the order). I put in YouTube links for some of my favorites, so check them out if you're interested.:
1. The Calculation
2. Eet - Her newest single, I believe.
3. Ode to Divorce
4. Machine
5. Two Birds
6. Folding Chair
7. Blue Lips - From the new album, so I didn't know it, but I remember really enjoying this song. It was more quiet and heartbreaking than my other favorites, but she sounded great.
8. On the Radio - This is maybe one more people know, since it was more recently released and did pretty well, I think. She opened the song saying that after playing in Chicago, she is renaming it to "On the Patio." There is a lyric in the song about bees stinging, and after the song ended, she explained that she recently learned from some beekeepers that "bees don't sting, it's yellow jackets. Bees are really cool! So now it's On the Patio, and I have to change the lyrics."
9. Dance Anthem of the 80s
10. Laughing With
11. One More Time With Feeling
12. Bobbing for Apples - Hilarious lyric: "Someone next door's fucking to one of my songs." For this song, she played by herself, on the guitar. She started playing, and then stopped to adjust her shirt, saying "It's a very complicated shirt, but it makes up with its shinyness." Adorable.
13. That Time - This video is live. One of my favorite songs. I don't know what it is about it, since it's pretty simple, but it's so happy while simultaneously depressing. And I love how she says "so sweet and JU!-cy." Also that bit where she thought she was going to be sick.
14. Apres Mois - She sings Russian in this, and it's beautiful. You guys know me and my linguistics love, but really, it was gorgeous live. There was no one backing her for this song either, just her and the piano.
15. Poor Little Rich Boy - For this one, there was no one backing her again, but they brought out a wooden chair and set it next to the bench. She then SIMULTANEOUSLY played the piano with her left hand, while hitting a drumstick on the chair with her right. It was so completely awesome. I cannot even comprehend the amount of talent it would take to sing, play piano, AND keep a drumming beat. It wasn't a simple song either, there were some complex moves going on there. I was very impressed. The video I linked is live, so you get to see her doing both too! It was even more awesome than this performance though. I guess since she's had 2 years to perfect it?
16. Human of the Year - Another from her new album that really struck me.
17. Man of a Thousand Faces
ENCORE: Basically the entire encore was my favorite part. She played four of my favorite songs in a row, and then a super cute closing number.
18. Samson - This is the song she played with the rest of the band in darkness, and the lights shining on the disco ball. It made an awesome song even awesomer. The video link isn't really a video, just the song.
19. Us
20. Fidelity - Love this song.
21. Hotel Song - This video is a live performance someone recorded. People did the clapping at our show too, but it was SO LOUD, you could barely hear Regina :(
22. Love, You're a Whore - When she introduced this song, she was like "this is a country song I wrote. *pause* Even though I'm not from the country." It was a cute little song, and it totally worked, even though it really doesn't sound like anything else she sings.
Wow, ok. Every time I go to a concert, I promise myself not to write a huge rambly post no one will read, but then I do anyway. Oops. You can blame desh. He asked for this! Anyway, in conclusion, Regina was fantastic, and I'll probably be going through one of my obsessive phases with her this week.