Remembering the Encores

Welcome back dear readers!  Would you like to read about my reactions to a television program that aired several weeks ago?  I thought so! Okay, so why on earth is this only one night?  Didn't they sell out the tour last year and so it should have been their month long thing?  Plus, Pentatonix has been at the center of almost every pop culture moment for the last year.  And Pitch Perfect has made a capella even more relevant than normal.  This one night affair is a travesty.  The world needs more a capella, damnit. I hope Shawn Stockman calls someone "big baby".  AND WHY IS THERE NO BEN FOLDS?!?! What a capella judging credentials does Patrick Stump have? Is Ben Folds' lack of availability the real reason it's only one night?  Why are we a full two minutes in and haven't seen Nick Lachey's dreamboat face yet? Okay, opening number... Here we go!  Ew, that girl has purple hair and I don't like it.  Jewel just looked super confused.  I dig the plai

Who: Phish When: October 27, 2014 Where: Bill Graham Civic Auditorium/ San Francisco, CA With: Matt, Joe Of Note: Holy crap! There are more words written about Phish than are probably even countable ( some of them by me !). Instead of adding to the discourse, I'd like to offer some letters to my fellow concert goers. Dear Matt & Joe, Thank you for being so baller, getting a great spot in line allowing you to get optimal "old people seeing Phish" seats in the balcony. And, thanks for letting me tag along! Love, Jen ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Shirtless Dancing Guys in the Front Row of the Balcony Section 218 (I think), Thank you for being aesthetically pleasing and dancing like crazy. I much enjoyed it. xoxo, Jen ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Girl With The Crazy Five L

Who: One Republic with The Script and American Authors When: June 6, 2014 Where: Lake Shore Amphitheater/ Mountain View, CA With: Alex Of Note: Are we old? My friend Alex from work shot me a note asking if I wanted to go see amdlakdoa and adfjdoiadjf on June 6 (or at least that's what I saw - I was in an airport/hotel/something at the time). I checked my calendar, saw that I was in town and said yes. Later I found out the line up which: totally legit, right? After a post-work drive south and a burrito the size of my head, it was concert time. First up was American Authors. They're having a moment, right? I wonder how many people just went through the same thought process I did which was, "Are these guys liars? Can every single day you hear this on the radio be the best day of your life? Wait! What if that's the point? Every day has the possibility to be the best day of your life!" Anyway, the highlights of the set were 'Luck', which has

Man, you know what I haven't talked about in a while? How hard it was to move across the country. (Geez Jen, SHUT UP already. People move; you are not a pioneer nor are you Fievel with some sort of terrible sob story.) Anyway, as much better as living on the left coast has gotten (who knew spending three hours a day in my car alone was making me miserable and eliminating that commute and putting my office much closer to things that people actually do would make me much happier?), when I first got out here it was rough. And I was lonely and alone and regretting my decision to move because I could not and would not look ahead to a time when it would be better. This is a story about a book club. A couple months after moving here, I finally got acquainted with some of my co-workers; there was a meeting or a birthday cake or something? And one of them, Jasmin, had sent me a friend request on facebook. I gladly accepted. Some time later, she threw up a post that said, "

Letter / Wild Adriatic Holy crap, how have I not been always listening to Wild Adriatic?  They're SO GOOD. Same Old Story / moe. 'No Guts, No Glory' is definitely my favorite moe. studio offering since 'Dither'.  I've been listening to the whole album, but this one of my favorites. My Kind of Night / Luke Bryan Lasting residuals of the Nashville trip, I suppose.  Also the at bat music of my favorite San Francisco Giant, Brandon Hicks. Stay With Me / Sam Smith Just like everyone else in the whole world, I love this song.  I heard it for the first time on morning radio and was so captivated I just laid in my bed and sobbed at both the message and raw emotion. A Mixtape For the Soul  - This is one of my favorite new sites to follow.  Essentially, people request playlists for certain moods/events/etc. and then they get a playlist, super easily accessed on Spotfiy.  The playlists are all short enough to get through in an hour, caref

Who: The Sing Off Live! The Filharmonic, VoicePlay, & Home Free When: March 15, 2014 Where: UB Center for the Arts/ Buffalo, NY With: Steph Of Note: Steph has set a dangerous precedent for my visits to Buffalo. So, the last time I was in Buffalo, my friend's Steph & Gary did magic things and procured some free, VIP tickets to see the Goo Goo Dolls . It was glorious. As a result, I possibly shouldn't have been surprised when I was in Buffalo for work in March and Steph called to say, "I know we were supposed to hang out for a TV date tonight but I forgot I had free tickets to The Sing Off tour. Would it be okay if we did that instead?" I'm pretty sure I've made my feelings on a capella pretty clear, and my feelings on The Sing Off even clearer . Yes, absolutely that would be wonderful, yes. (Bonus points for the fact that I had bought a ticket to see the show in SF but subsequently had to StubHub it because I ended up being out of town f

You Got Me / Ingrid Michaelson Featuring Storyman Callin' Baton Rouge / Garth Brooks (but, because this song is impossible to find on the internet, I've actually been listening to some sort of Country Cardio version of it that's quite good) Rocking Chair / The Alternate Routes Asked You Twice / The Alternate Routes Anywhere With You / Jake Owen I Lived / One Republic 

Who: O.A.R. When: May 12, 2014 Where: Creative Live Studios/ San Francisco, CA With: The band, like 6' from me Of Note: You win this one San Francisco; you win this one. Also, you can buy this session! Click here, pay $10 (most of which goes to O.A.R.'s Heard the World Charity!) and play "Spot Jen in the audience!" Okay, so I've been seeing O.A.R. for a long time ; they make me feel like college and summer in Buffalo and like I want to be wrapped up in a warm blanket of Marc's voice and live there. (How is it possible that I've only written about 3 O.A.R. shows? I've seen them at least two dozen times. File under things to rectify, I guess.) Anyway, O.A.R. played three shows at the Independent one May week-end in SF. And in the week leading up to that week-end, they tossed up a Facebook post that said, "We're doing a live stream on Monday and the first ten people who comment get to come." I was one of the first ten to resp

Who: Up and Coming Country Stars Whose Names I Don't Know Because They are BAD AT MARKETING When: May 23-27, 2014 Where: Broadway / Nashville, TN With: Barb Of Note: One night in Nashville is fun. Two nights in Nashville is a LOT of fun. Three nights in Nashville pushes you to the brink of death. Four nights in Nashville? That makes you a champion. So, because my life is awesome, I had the opportunity to piggy back on a work trip and spend Memorial Day week-end in Nashville, TN. And, since Barb is always up for anything and needed a week-end away, she flew down to meet me. Guys? Nashville is amazing because you can (almost literally) see bands 24 hours a day. Most of you who have been to this space before will understand that is essentially utopia. So, because I figure that at least one of these guys will BLOW UP to be the next country superstar, I'm going to try to document at least some of who we saw. First off, though, fair musicians of Nashville, may I

Who: Jeremy Jordan When: May 4, 2014 Where: Feinstein's at the Nikko/ San Francisco, CA With: My hacking cough Of Note: I am ready to declare Jeremy Jordan a national treasure. Oh, sad neglected website. Since we last saw each other, I've been to ten different cities and seen six or seven shows. I didn't mean to neglect you; I promise. It's just... sometimes life gets busy (these last couple months have been more heavily weighted to the "mogul aspirant" side of my "mogul aspirant/ live music enthusiast" spectrum). No matter. Tonight, I had the esteemed privilege of seeing Jeremy Jordan at Feinstein's at the Nikko Hotel, here in SF and I want to say things about it. I "discovered" Feinstein's last month and determined it one of the coolest places in the city - the bar area is adorably damask and pink and the performance area feels markedly like a NYC cabaret. When I checked out their full schedule and saw Jeremy Jorda

If You Don't Love Me / The Wild Feathers Up In The Air / The Revivalists Heartbreak Dream / Betty Who Dice / Finley Quaye & William Orbit 

Who: White Denim with Clear Plastic Masks When: February 5, 2014 Where: The Fillmore/ San Francisco, CA With: My head cold? Of Note: Breaking news: Cowboys might be the new lumberjacks So, Wednesday, I stayed home from work because I was dripping snot all over the place and now that we're in an open office, I didn't want to snot all over my co-workers. When my boss called to ask if she could drop something off at my house for me to transport to San Antonio the following day, I consulted my calendar and said, "Oh, crap. I have to go to the Fillmore tonight," then confirmed that she could drop off some very exciting Composition correlations (I think) for me to hand carry to Texas the next day. I figured a night where I had a raging head cold and a 6am flight to prepare for was the perfect night to take in some rock & roll. As it turns out, I was right! (Plus, props to the bartender at the Fillmore who served me a giant glass of ginger ale without making

Who: O.A.R. When: January 29, 2014 Where: The Bird's Nest/ Phoenix, AZ With: So very many middle-aged drunk men in PING hats Of Note: Sometimes I think my life is weird. So, whenever I travel for work I check to see who is playing in the area when I'm there. In this case, a week of campus visits in Phoenix, AZ meant that I got to see O.A.R.! As it turns out, the Phoenix Open was in town the week I was (which explains the pricey hotels), which is a big deal for golf? I don't know. And the concert that I got a ticket to was part of the Phoenix Open After Party - at a venue they erect just for that purpose called The Bird's Nest. Essentially, they build an elaborate tent/stage thing and surround it with another big old bar tent (the Dierks Bentley Whiskey Bar, if I recall correctly; apparently he's from Phoenix) and like a mini-festival ground. When I got there, there was a DJ who sounded like he would have been at home at Daily Planet, huge vi