'You are my sweetest downfall'
May. 2nd, 2010 02:01 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rdm_ationAnother night at the Palais, another great concert. In an altogether different way.
Harpisan, N (friend I went to Indonesia with) and I all went to see Regina Spektor tonight. She's one pretty amazing artist.
I shall start from the beginning, I think.a very good place to start
The opening act was a band called 'Jupiter 1' whose lead singer was pretty good - if a little odd. Accompanying himself with an assortment of violin, (played like you would a guitar as well as normally) guitar and keyboard, his voice was good - and the songs, well I think they'd grow on me if I listened to them again. The funniest thing was that he's Japanese, and while he sings in a perfect American accent his speaking voice has such a thick Japanese accent that we could barely understand him. It was extreme in the sense of switching between the two!
They really were a 'supporting act'. No sooner had Regina herself appeared, the three band members were back onstage playing cello, violin and drums. Not only were they worked in brilliantly to her songs (most of which had some string parts in the recordings, but not prominently) I realised that this guy is an absolutely freaking brilliant violinist. Just watching him, I could tell that he wasn't just a rock star who'd decided to pick up the violin for something different. His technique was really impressive. And so relaxed the whole time. Sure enough, I just looked him up, and he's a Suzuki trained classical violinist who then decided to start an indie rock band. Figures!! Damn he was awesome.
As for Regina Spektor herself? What can I say, she's quirky, she's talented, and she has a lot of fun with what she does. What more could you ask for, really? <3
It was very interesting that most of the pieces were incredibly similar to the way they were recorded. Even down to sound effects that she makes. I'm not saying this was particularly bad, or particularly good, it was just interesting.
That is, of course, with a few tiny exceptions. And here is where I prove just how much of a music nerd I am. In one song, Fidelity, there are strings in the original recording, but they aren't prominent at all. I thought there was something different other than that though, and went to explain that toi harpisan afterwards - that instead of accenting the first beat in the bar, they were accenting the second. I'm proud, and vaguely ashamed in a way, to say that I found I was right when I listened to the recording again. XD I'm awesome.
There are far too many great songs to actually mention here, so I'll just say the encore was possibly the best bit of the whole thing.
Samson, Us, Fidelity, Hotel Song and another random one I don't know the name of. So good. Somehow I ended up with 'The Calculation' stuck in my head, even though it was actually the first song she sang!
Also, she's so adorable! Like, she doesn't actually talk much on stage, and when she does she has a soft husky sort of voice, and I was just awwww. Also, her impression that 'Aussie footy' fields should be turned into Quidditch fields was gold. Love it!
Happy Very Early Birthday Harpisan!
I don't even remember when I last posted, but I'll just say that these past few weeks have been stressful - but have been bookended by two awesome concerts. Let's hope that means the end of me stressing out. Unlikely, but a girl can hope, right?
It's now most definitely bedtime. Seeing as it's 2am. (it took me forever to get home, stupid roadworks)
Rdm
Harpisan, N (friend I went to Indonesia with) and I all went to see Regina Spektor tonight. She's one pretty amazing artist.
I shall start from the beginning, I think.
The opening act was a band called 'Jupiter 1' whose lead singer was pretty good - if a little odd. Accompanying himself with an assortment of violin, (played like you would a guitar as well as normally) guitar and keyboard, his voice was good - and the songs, well I think they'd grow on me if I listened to them again. The funniest thing was that he's Japanese, and while he sings in a perfect American accent his speaking voice has such a thick Japanese accent that we could barely understand him. It was extreme in the sense of switching between the two!
They really were a 'supporting act'. No sooner had Regina herself appeared, the three band members were back onstage playing cello, violin and drums. Not only were they worked in brilliantly to her songs (most of which had some string parts in the recordings, but not prominently) I realised that this guy is an absolutely freaking brilliant violinist. Just watching him, I could tell that he wasn't just a rock star who'd decided to pick up the violin for something different. His technique was really impressive. And so relaxed the whole time. Sure enough, I just looked him up, and he's a Suzuki trained classical violinist who then decided to start an indie rock band. Figures!! Damn he was awesome.
As for Regina Spektor herself? What can I say, she's quirky, she's talented, and she has a lot of fun with what she does. What more could you ask for, really? <3
It was very interesting that most of the pieces were incredibly similar to the way they were recorded. Even down to sound effects that she makes. I'm not saying this was particularly bad, or particularly good, it was just interesting.
That is, of course, with a few tiny exceptions. And here is where I prove just how much of a music nerd I am. In one song, Fidelity, there are strings in the original recording, but they aren't prominent at all. I thought there was something different other than that though, and went to explain that toi harpisan afterwards - that instead of accenting the first beat in the bar, they were accenting the second. I'm proud, and vaguely ashamed in a way, to say that I found I was right when I listened to the recording again. XD I'm awesome.
There are far too many great songs to actually mention here, so I'll just say the encore was possibly the best bit of the whole thing.
Samson, Us, Fidelity, Hotel Song and another random one I don't know the name of. So good. Somehow I ended up with 'The Calculation' stuck in my head, even though it was actually the first song she sang!
Also, she's so adorable! Like, she doesn't actually talk much on stage, and when she does she has a soft husky sort of voice, and I was just awwww. Also, her impression that 'Aussie footy' fields should be turned into Quidditch fields was gold. Love it!
Happy Very Early Birthday Harpisan!
I don't even remember when I last posted, but I'll just say that these past few weeks have been stressful - but have been bookended by two awesome concerts. Let's hope that means the end of me stressing out. Unlikely, but a girl can hope, right?
It's now most definitely bedtime. Seeing as it's 2am. (it took me forever to get home, stupid roadworks)
Rdm
