Vienna Teng and the Animators @ the Montgomery Theater
Picked this one instead of one in SF because a) closer and b) seats! Seats are nice! It was a bit different watching it in a seated theater, as opposed to a more club environment; less whistles and applause, more "decorous" behavior. I do like the energy of the club environment a lot, but on the other hand... it was really nice to sit down! I got so tired at the last Vienna Teng concert I went to that I nearly fell asleep during some of the slower songs -_-;;. Also, the feet were much less irritated at me after this one.
And this time, I got to see her with her band, as opposed to being backed up by the Animators! Not that I didn't like the Animators, but it was nice being able to hear her on an actual piano instead of a keyboard, accompanied by cello and violin and viola instead of guitar. It was a very, very different sound from the only other show of hers I've been to.
The Animators opened this time as well; the songs were much slower and less angry than the show before (with the exception of a song about Strom Thurmond titled "The Senator Goes to Hell"). There was also a really cute Al Green song (who is Al Green?), along with a love song/gospel tune. The first song of the set made me mad, because it was one of those "Why won't she go for nice-guy me, she says she wants nice but she really just wants the bad boys and to be treated badly" things, which drives me crazy. I read somewhere that guys who complain that they are Nice Guys, why don't they have a girlfriend, are in all probability not really Nice Guys.
They also played my favorite song of theirs! Ok, I only know that one song, but still. I like it. They were going to play a sad love song, but due to instrument misplacement, they ended up playing "Simple," which is one of those songs that makes me point and say, "I want to be like that!" (er... the lyrics make it a bit more complicated. I just realized that sounded like I wanted to be simple-minded. Yeah). Anyhow, I got it off iTunes, but it sounds better live -- much more energy instead of being sappy and slow.
Vienna Teng started out with lots of songs that I heard the last time I saw her ("Hope on Fire," "My Medea," other somewhat sad and depressing and slow songs), including some new songs that I'd also heard. Having seats or the 7:30 starting time or not having the drive to SF or just having the actual piano instead of a keyboard there made such a difference. Before, I got really sleepy during the slow bits (I think I was very tired), but this time I could actually concentrate. That was nice.
She didn't play quite that many songs off her albums, but I was happy because we got "Atheist Christmas Carol" (hee!) and "Homecoming." And it was really fun hearing her new songs! I had heard about three of them before, but there were a lot more new ones this time. I hope that means a CD is coming some time in the near future.
The ones I remember most are "Boy with the Piano" (or is it "Boy and the Piano"? Anyhow, there's a boy, and there's a piano), which was fun and jazzy and syncopated, "1 bd/1ba," a cute song about apartment hunting in San Francisco, and "City Hall," a really, totally, absolutely adorable song about the gay marriages in SF. It was really, really, really cute! I loved it! It made me happy!
And then there was "Harbor" to close up. "Harbor" also makes me happy! And it was so cool with the cello and the piano and the violin and even a xylophone and accordian (courtesy of the Animators). Vienna Teng mentioned that she has a lot of travelling songs, but I never really thought about "Harbor" being a personal song. Except... after "City Hall" and "1 bd/1ba" and other very California songs, I finally realized that "Harbor" was most likely not about the Maine coast, complete with picturesque lighthouse and grey waves crashing, but about the San Francisco Bay, the bridges and the fog.
Duh. I guess I associate ships more with the Atlantic and with whale-hunting type things of the past?
I love the energy of "Harbor" and that shift in timestamp where the piano starts pounding out chords (or something... yhlee, don't kill me for misuse of musical terms!).
Very fun.
And this time, I got to see her with her band, as opposed to being backed up by the Animators! Not that I didn't like the Animators, but it was nice being able to hear her on an actual piano instead of a keyboard, accompanied by cello and violin and viola instead of guitar. It was a very, very different sound from the only other show of hers I've been to.
The Animators opened this time as well; the songs were much slower and less angry than the show before (with the exception of a song about Strom Thurmond titled "The Senator Goes to Hell"). There was also a really cute Al Green song (who is Al Green?), along with a love song/gospel tune. The first song of the set made me mad, because it was one of those "Why won't she go for nice-guy me, she says she wants nice but she really just wants the bad boys and to be treated badly" things, which drives me crazy. I read somewhere that guys who complain that they are Nice Guys, why don't they have a girlfriend, are in all probability not really Nice Guys.
They also played my favorite song of theirs! Ok, I only know that one song, but still. I like it. They were going to play a sad love song, but due to instrument misplacement, they ended up playing "Simple," which is one of those songs that makes me point and say, "I want to be like that!" (er... the lyrics make it a bit more complicated. I just realized that sounded like I wanted to be simple-minded. Yeah). Anyhow, I got it off iTunes, but it sounds better live -- much more energy instead of being sappy and slow.
Vienna Teng started out with lots of songs that I heard the last time I saw her ("Hope on Fire," "My Medea," other somewhat sad and depressing and slow songs), including some new songs that I'd also heard. Having seats or the 7:30 starting time or not having the drive to SF or just having the actual piano instead of a keyboard there made such a difference. Before, I got really sleepy during the slow bits (I think I was very tired), but this time I could actually concentrate. That was nice.
She didn't play quite that many songs off her albums, but I was happy because we got "Atheist Christmas Carol" (hee!) and "Homecoming." And it was really fun hearing her new songs! I had heard about three of them before, but there were a lot more new ones this time. I hope that means a CD is coming some time in the near future.
The ones I remember most are "Boy with the Piano" (or is it "Boy and the Piano"? Anyhow, there's a boy, and there's a piano), which was fun and jazzy and syncopated, "1 bd/1ba," a cute song about apartment hunting in San Francisco, and "City Hall," a really, totally, absolutely adorable song about the gay marriages in SF. It was really, really, really cute! I loved it! It made me happy!
And then there was "Harbor" to close up. "Harbor" also makes me happy! And it was so cool with the cello and the piano and the violin and even a xylophone and accordian (courtesy of the Animators). Vienna Teng mentioned that she has a lot of travelling songs, but I never really thought about "Harbor" being a personal song. Except... after "City Hall" and "1 bd/1ba" and other very California songs, I finally realized that "Harbor" was most likely not about the Maine coast, complete with picturesque lighthouse and grey waves crashing, but about the San Francisco Bay, the bridges and the fog.
Duh. I guess I associate ships more with the Atlantic and with whale-hunting type things of the past?
I love the energy of "Harbor" and that shift in timestamp where the piano starts pounding out chords (or something... yhlee, don't kill me for misuse of musical terms!).
Very fun.