The record-buying public shouldn't be voting
Tonight, for the first time ever, two separate shows, one evening!
As more avid followers of my Twitter and/or Facebook updates might know, Mandy Moore set up this show at the Highline Ballroom where if you buy her record at Best Buy and bring the receipt, you-plus-guest get in, room permitting. I was already planning on doing that, but I also entered a contest courtesy of Pop Tarts Suck Toasted to win a pair of actual tickets. And I won! So this is how I wound up not just at a Mandy Moore concert, but in the front row.
Standing there, I was trying to remember how it was that I actually started listening to Mandy Moore, since my crush on her developed more from her movies, in which she typically gives an endearingly good performance in the middle of something that doesn't quite work (like American Dreamz or Saved! or pretty much any movie she's ever been in). But I know I had Coverage before I had seen her in a ton of movies. I think I first really saw her in How to Deal (see?), and liked her, and then maybe Coverage came out later that year? But I couldn't figure out why exactly I bought Coverage except that it got decent reviews and it made me curous, and I'm pretty sure Rob encouraged me (Rob also got my back when Mike was like, what the hell is up with Jesse going to Mandy Moore). Since then, I've been basically waiting for her to make a really good record. Wild Hope has some good stuff but large chunks of it are tastefully boring, and now this new one, Amanda Leigh, isn't quite there but it is pretty good, and Mike Viola producing and co-writing is exactly the right direction.
So I wound up in the front row of her little concert, which I believe is the second-closest to a celebrity I've had a longtime crush on, after the time I held Tina Fey's plant while she signed my ASSSSCAT ticket. You could tell it was more of a promotional event because there was no opening band, the set was under an hour, and it was almost all songs from the new record, which is understandable as most of the best songs she's ever co-written are on there. She only played one from Wild Hope, the title track and second-best song after "Gardenia," which I would've loved to hear.
It was all stripped down, with Mandy backed by Mike Viola and another guy, playing acoustic guitar and keyboards. She still seems to be making the transition back to recording artist from acting, and she obviously hasn't done a big tour in awhile (maybe since the teen-pop years?); between songs, she was all sheepish smiles and slightly interview-sounding soundbitey anecdotes. But in an endearing way. It's weird to watch her find her groove on stage considering she's kind of a natural in the movies, but it also creates the impression (illusion?) that you're seeing the "real life" version.
Anyway, I had a good time, especially as I never really planned on seeing Mandy Moore under these conditions (for free, super close). Songs:
Pocket Philosopher
Merrimack River
Love to Love Me Back
Fern Dell
Song about Home
Nothing Everything
Bug
Wild Hope
I Could Break Your Heart Any Day of the Week
And then a cover for which I promptly forgot the key look-up phrase, but I think it had the word "roll" in it, and it sounded like sort of classic-rock/bluesy. It was cool. And not on Coverage.
The show was done by nine, so I hustled to the F train and went down to Mercury Lounge to meet Marisa and Craig for Art Brut. The main reason we got tickets to this show (Art Brut rules but I'm not sure if they weeknight-rule at this point) was that Ardsley kid Graham's band, Murder Mystery, was opening up, so it seemed like a good time to check them out. I entered the Merc about ten minutes before Murder Mystery came on, the kind of timing I can never pull off when I'm coming from home or work, and made a smooth transition from Mandy Moore to indie rock.
Murdery Mystery was fun -- they have kind of a Bishop Allen-y thing, for lack of a better comparison because it's late -- and then Art Brut came on and did their awesome thing. No use explaining Art Brut shows at this stage, but maybe I can annotate the setlist:
Alcoholics Unanimous
Nag Nag Nag Nag Nag
Moving to L.A.
The Passenger (not a cover)
Direct Hit
What a Rush (alternate title per Eddie: "Enjoyable Weekend")
Bad Weekend
Demons Out
Pump Up the Volume (not a cover)
Emily Kane
The KKK Took My Baby Away (cover! of the Ramones)
DC Comics and Chocolate Milkshakes
My Little Brother ("stay off the... crystal meth!")
Bang Bang Rock + Roll
---
Formed a Band (I don't know if I've ever seen them play this straight through) (or with the intro to "Back in Black")
Twist and Shout (not a cover)
Modern Art (Eddie gets into the crowd and runs around as per usual)
And that was that, two shows in one night, NYC living justified. Way past my bedtime! Stay off the crack!
As more avid followers of my Twitter and/or Facebook updates might know, Mandy Moore set up this show at the Highline Ballroom where if you buy her record at Best Buy and bring the receipt, you-plus-guest get in, room permitting. I was already planning on doing that, but I also entered a contest courtesy of Pop Tarts Suck Toasted to win a pair of actual tickets. And I won! So this is how I wound up not just at a Mandy Moore concert, but in the front row.
Standing there, I was trying to remember how it was that I actually started listening to Mandy Moore, since my crush on her developed more from her movies, in which she typically gives an endearingly good performance in the middle of something that doesn't quite work (like American Dreamz or Saved! or pretty much any movie she's ever been in). But I know I had Coverage before I had seen her in a ton of movies. I think I first really saw her in How to Deal (see?), and liked her, and then maybe Coverage came out later that year? But I couldn't figure out why exactly I bought Coverage except that it got decent reviews and it made me curous, and I'm pretty sure Rob encouraged me (Rob also got my back when Mike was like, what the hell is up with Jesse going to Mandy Moore). Since then, I've been basically waiting for her to make a really good record. Wild Hope has some good stuff but large chunks of it are tastefully boring, and now this new one, Amanda Leigh, isn't quite there but it is pretty good, and Mike Viola producing and co-writing is exactly the right direction.
So I wound up in the front row of her little concert, which I believe is the second-closest to a celebrity I've had a longtime crush on, after the time I held Tina Fey's plant while she signed my ASSSSCAT ticket. You could tell it was more of a promotional event because there was no opening band, the set was under an hour, and it was almost all songs from the new record, which is understandable as most of the best songs she's ever co-written are on there. She only played one from Wild Hope, the title track and second-best song after "Gardenia," which I would've loved to hear.
It was all stripped down, with Mandy backed by Mike Viola and another guy, playing acoustic guitar and keyboards. She still seems to be making the transition back to recording artist from acting, and she obviously hasn't done a big tour in awhile (maybe since the teen-pop years?); between songs, she was all sheepish smiles and slightly interview-sounding soundbitey anecdotes. But in an endearing way. It's weird to watch her find her groove on stage considering she's kind of a natural in the movies, but it also creates the impression (illusion?) that you're seeing the "real life" version.
Anyway, I had a good time, especially as I never really planned on seeing Mandy Moore under these conditions (for free, super close). Songs:
Pocket Philosopher
Merrimack River
Love to Love Me Back
Fern Dell
Song about Home
Nothing Everything
Bug
Wild Hope
I Could Break Your Heart Any Day of the Week
And then a cover for which I promptly forgot the key look-up phrase, but I think it had the word "roll" in it, and it sounded like sort of classic-rock/bluesy. It was cool. And not on Coverage.
The show was done by nine, so I hustled to the F train and went down to Mercury Lounge to meet Marisa and Craig for Art Brut. The main reason we got tickets to this show (Art Brut rules but I'm not sure if they weeknight-rule at this point) was that Ardsley kid Graham's band, Murder Mystery, was opening up, so it seemed like a good time to check them out. I entered the Merc about ten minutes before Murder Mystery came on, the kind of timing I can never pull off when I'm coming from home or work, and made a smooth transition from Mandy Moore to indie rock.
Murdery Mystery was fun -- they have kind of a Bishop Allen-y thing, for lack of a better comparison because it's late -- and then Art Brut came on and did their awesome thing. No use explaining Art Brut shows at this stage, but maybe I can annotate the setlist:
Alcoholics Unanimous
Nag Nag Nag Nag Nag
Moving to L.A.
The Passenger (not a cover)
Direct Hit
What a Rush (alternate title per Eddie: "Enjoyable Weekend")
Bad Weekend
Demons Out
Pump Up the Volume (not a cover)
Emily Kane
The KKK Took My Baby Away (cover! of the Ramones)
DC Comics and Chocolate Milkshakes
My Little Brother ("stay off the... crystal meth!")
Bang Bang Rock + Roll
---
Formed a Band (I don't know if I've ever seen them play this straight through) (or with the intro to "Back in Black")
Twist and Shout (not a cover)
Modern Art (Eddie gets into the crowd and runs around as per usual)
And that was that, two shows in one night, NYC living justified. Way past my bedtime! Stay off the crack!