An Evening With Aimee - The Real Post
Last Wednesday night I went to see Aimee Mann in concert.
This was my fourth time to see a full Aimee show (in addition to one in-store performance). Her new album came out on June 3rd and I really like it.
I got there about 45 minutes before the doors were scheduled to open. I wanted to be literally front & center if I could. When I got inside there was only one other person, so I got my wish. The weird thing is that the guy who was there before me had a reserved seat in the balcony. Um, that means you can show up right before the show starts dude!
Anyway, I got center rail. And I do mean “center”, I was right by a mark on the stage that indicated the centerline.
The opening act was a guy named David Ford. I had not heard of him before. He was really good. It was just him and his instruments. He did this amazing thing where he would play a riff on the guitar or other instrument, record it, and then loop it. He would then add on other layers as necessary, resulting in kind of a one-man band deal. He had a great voice. I thought it was kind of weird that he looks a lot like Justin Timberlake.
The wait for Aimee was much longer than I thought it would be. But Aimee and the band finally came out. There’s not much electric guitar on the new album, and Julian is no longer in the band. There is now a second keyboard player who plays a lot of ‘80s sounding synthesizers. He’s kind of a real prim & proper-looking dude, which I think is kind of funny. I do love the retro synth sound though. Very reminiscent of The Cars in certain passages.
I thought the band sounded great, and so did Aimee’s voice. I love how Paul Bryan’s voice blends with Aimee’s. You can hear it on the records, but it was really cool to hear it in person and be right there in front of the two of them. She did 9 songs from the new album, which meant that she only skipped 4 tracks. That didn’t leave much room for older stuff. She only did one song from Lost In Space, and only one song from The Forgotten Arm. It was still a great show though. She didn’t take requests like she had at some of the other shows on the tour.
I loved the rendition of “You’re With Stupid Now”, during which Aimee played the bongos for a little bit. I also really enjoyed getting to hear “How Am I Different” live. That song has one of my favorite Aimee lyrics ever: “just one question before I pack/when you fuck it up later/do I get my money back?” I thought I was kind of over “Save Me” and “Wise Up”, but I’m not. They still raised goosebumps. I got to hear two of my favorite songs from the new album – “Little Tornado” and “The Great Beyond”. My only complaint about the show itself was that I wish it had been longer. Aimee usually only plays for about an hour and a half including encore. She has enough material now to play twice as long! My other complaint was that the House of Blues doesn’t allow cameras. Pfft.
After the show ended I hung around hoping to get a setlist or something, and it played off! The drummer, John Sands, came out and was talking to some people, and I got him to give me the setlist that Aimee had been using. He also gave me a guitar pick! I name dropped Baby Faith (for the back story on that, read Holli’s blog), and he remembered her. A really nice guy.
Tomorrow I’m off to see Tom Waits. I can’t waits!
This was my fourth time to see a full Aimee show (in addition to one in-store performance). Her new album came out on June 3rd and I really like it.
I got there about 45 minutes before the doors were scheduled to open. I wanted to be literally front & center if I could. When I got inside there was only one other person, so I got my wish. The weird thing is that the guy who was there before me had a reserved seat in the balcony. Um, that means you can show up right before the show starts dude!
Anyway, I got center rail. And I do mean “center”, I was right by a mark on the stage that indicated the centerline.
The opening act was a guy named David Ford. I had not heard of him before. He was really good. It was just him and his instruments. He did this amazing thing where he would play a riff on the guitar or other instrument, record it, and then loop it. He would then add on other layers as necessary, resulting in kind of a one-man band deal. He had a great voice. I thought it was kind of weird that he looks a lot like Justin Timberlake.
The wait for Aimee was much longer than I thought it would be. But Aimee and the band finally came out. There’s not much electric guitar on the new album, and Julian is no longer in the band. There is now a second keyboard player who plays a lot of ‘80s sounding synthesizers. He’s kind of a real prim & proper-looking dude, which I think is kind of funny. I do love the retro synth sound though. Very reminiscent of The Cars in certain passages.
I thought the band sounded great, and so did Aimee’s voice. I love how Paul Bryan’s voice blends with Aimee’s. You can hear it on the records, but it was really cool to hear it in person and be right there in front of the two of them. She did 9 songs from the new album, which meant that she only skipped 4 tracks. That didn’t leave much room for older stuff. She only did one song from Lost In Space, and only one song from The Forgotten Arm. It was still a great show though. She didn’t take requests like she had at some of the other shows on the tour.
I loved the rendition of “You’re With Stupid Now”, during which Aimee played the bongos for a little bit. I also really enjoyed getting to hear “How Am I Different” live. That song has one of my favorite Aimee lyrics ever: “just one question before I pack/when you fuck it up later/do I get my money back?” I thought I was kind of over “Save Me” and “Wise Up”, but I’m not. They still raised goosebumps. I got to hear two of my favorite songs from the new album – “Little Tornado” and “The Great Beyond”. My only complaint about the show itself was that I wish it had been longer. Aimee usually only plays for about an hour and a half including encore. She has enough material now to play twice as long! My other complaint was that the House of Blues doesn’t allow cameras. Pfft.
After the show ended I hung around hoping to get a setlist or something, and it played off! The drummer, John Sands, came out and was talking to some people, and I got him to give me the setlist that Aimee had been using. He also gave me a guitar pick! I name dropped Baby Faith (for the back story on that, read Holli’s blog), and he remembered her. A really nice guy.
Tomorrow I’m off to see Tom Waits. I can’t waits!
Labels: Concerts
posted by JC at 8:14 PM
7 Comments:
You are just my connection to concerts. Glad to hear Aimee was fun. Will have to check out her new record.
Have a great time at Waits!! Does he ever do old old stuff?
Faith actually noticed the Moog before I did - she read the word and I got excited.. I love Moog synthesizers. She also argued about wanting to request "Little Tornados" as her favorite song, until I explained that had already been performed.
I will never be over "Wise Up." And I still love "Save Me," but "Wise Up" just seemed somehow extremely appropriate.
you lucky lucky man! sounds great. but you had to stand the whole time? i haven't heard aimee's new cd, will have to get it though. i had her grinch xmas song running through my head this weekend for some weird reason. and tom waits, too! wow. he had/has a show near me, but i didn't even try to go. often finding someone to go with me is difficult, though, i know, i'm an adult and should be able to go to a concert alone... can't wait to hear about waits! and phooey on their no cameras policy!
no more julian? man. life is just not fair.
YAY that getting there early paid off!! It sounds like you had a great time!
It's cool that John Sand remembered Faith too. (But then, who wouldn't! hehehe)
I love that he remembered Faith. Of course, she IS fairly unforgettable! Sounds like you had a really nice time. We never get anybody good up here. It's a wasteland!
Hi, JC! Thanks for stopping by. I am actually spotlighting your blog on my other blog (BlogsWeLuv) this Saturday. Be sure to check it out! And btw, I loved your latest SPC! You've always had such great SPCs! Oh, are you still single? I mentioned in my post that you are, so let me know if that's not accurate! :)
Post a Comment
<< Home