Saturday, May 12th 2012 7:00pm Tower Theatre Upper Darby, Pennsylvania

[himynameism 212]

That guy looks really jealous. He is probably thinking who are all those awesome people

[eshbach 3]

quote:

Originally posted by Appt:

EDIT: thank you for the recording! Amazing quality, even better than the Wellmont one.

Thanks, I've been trying to get the microphones as high as possible. That seems to make the difference.

[bum bum bum 25]

Aw thanks for sharing everyone! I'll be fine with whatever changes happen to Brumstix. Even if we do somehow lose content. I won't blame anyone haha. You were the right people to help make the decision!

[ThisIsHowItWorks 4]

quote:

Originally posted by Greg:

I knew I should've stayed longer to talk to her a little more! I was so excited after I got my picture, I practically ran away!

Same! Big mistake, I guess.

Last night and my first regina show was everything I hoped it would be and more, minus the rudeness of some of the audience. Her performance was brilliant (what a wonderfully long set that was! We're so lucky), and meeting her was phenomenal. I thanked her for the role she's played in my life for almost six years, and told her that On the Radio saved my life, and she looked me in the eyes and said "You never should have been in any danger."

It was so cool to meet a few of you, too! My friends weren't really up for meeting new people so unfortunately I didn't get to mingle in the Stix bunch as much as I would have liked to, but there's always next time

[Greg 19]

Here's my video!

Unfortunately, you can't see much, but the audio is really good. (And I had some technical difficulties during Ain't No Cover which causes it stop in the middle)

EDIT: Ugh, I just realized you can hear me breathing at a couple points... oy.

[Stepped On A Syringe 16]

ahh thanks greg! it's awesome to hear the whole show and sing along in my office

[ThisIsHowItWorks 4]

quote:

Originally posted by Greg:

Here's my video!

Unfortunately, you can't see much, but the audio is really good. (And I had some technical difficulties during Ain't No Cover which causes it stop in the middle)

EDIT: Ugh, I just realized you can hear me breathing at a couple points... oy.

I look forward to watching this and finding out whether the back of my friends' heads make any cameos

[himynameism 212]

Okay so now that the NYC show is tomorrow, I guess I should give my comments about this show now:

First of all: I am so happy to know you people. Hanging out with those of you from the shows is one of the best parts! I love having people to talk to that are just as crazy as I am

Open is by far my favorite song she has been playing recently. Every time I hear it, I get shivers...it's such a magical feeling.

Also, Betsy forgot to add that Regina thanked her for supporting HIAS

Meeting Regina was so wonderful. When it was mentioned that we were stixers, she got all excited and just was chatting away although there were other people still waiting to meet her. She looked straight into my eyes and I totally melted on the inside. Afterwards I thought I was seriously going to have a heart attack because my heart was beating so fast! I really believe she genuinely enjoys meeting her fans...that smile is the real thing! The whole area is just full of so much love and sweetness!

And to end my rambling...I heard someone tell her she was perfect and she said "I'm really not" which I would like to disagree with

[altered ego 0]

Guys, sorry for not uploading the vids yet. I'm rewatching them now and holy crapola, the lighting kind of sucked. It was too bright and it's bouncing off of her face like she's some form of deity that you're not allowed to look straight in the eye. Gaah!

I'm trying to tinker with the brightness/contrast/exposure and all that shiznits and figure out which is the best combo to make it bearable to watch. It's such a shame because I really had a good angle to shoot from. :|

I'll keep you posted.

[dentistgirl 33]

haha marielle, I did not hear the perfect thing. but that's funny.

and good call appt for downloading content. Definitely anything could happen here, I suspect.

I was trying to get stuff uploaded before I posted, but oh well. I'm still working on that (i have tons of pics and vids) but wanted to get this up before the NY show tonight. So happy reading...

It was a whirlwind weekend for me for sure. I got to see Ingrid Michaelson, for the first time in quiet a while, in Pittsburgh (about 100 miles from where I live) on Friday night at the Carnegie Library Music Hall (totally gorgeous venue btw). Then got up on Saturday morning to drive to Philadelphia (240miles from where I live) to see regina. Honestly, Pennsylvania is WAY TOO HUGE. But I digress; it’s a labor of love and I’m doing it as long as I am able.

This show was kinda special for me because my best friend got to come along. She’s been to one other regina concert with me, and she likes regina, but she’s not "obsessed." I guess, what I mean is that it’s kind of fun to watch someone who doesn’t know exactly what to expect experience the show. That said, our seats were jealousy inducing. They were right in the front, and the stage wasn’t ridiculously elevated (like Wellmont) so we could see perfectly, really they couldn’t have been better. My friend was impressed...so thank you ebay...eh...anyway....

Only Son came out and did their thing. The tambourine playing guy is apparently a fixture. An odd one, if I do say so. After the Wellmont, I didn’t expect to see him up there again. I honestly thought he was one of Jack or the other guys’ buddies who they just "let" play a tambourine for kicks that night. Apparently not... so I’m still trying to figure that one out. Haha. Sorry I didn’t write Jack’s setlist down, but it was the usual. I thought his music, the instrumentation, sounded particularly good but the vocals were lacking a bit. I don’t know if it was where I was sitting or the levels or what, who knows. I’m still a huge sucker for Magic no matter what. Can’t get enough of it. Plus, Jack is just hilarious with his whiskey banter and crazy little comments that people don’t even get half the time. Love it. Love being able to enjoy the opener. Also love being able to sit down for the interminable set change. It’s a beautiful thing.

Eventually regina came out wearing a sparkly knee-length dress, black leggings, and black ankle boots. She was right, I mean, RIGHT there singing Ain’t No Cover. I was so close, that as she tapped the microphone my eyes were drawn to her super-cute blue nail polish. After finishing, she sat at the piano for The Calculation. This is exactly what I always wished for all last tour. I adore the Calculation and I can see how it is a good show opener, but I find it impossible to calm myself enough at the start of the show enough to enjoy the first song properly. So I always hated having to sacrifice The Calculation in that way. Although I was soooo happy to hear it again, I definitely missed, super-duper missed the old string part in the live version of Calculation. The plucking, it made my heart swoon. Oh well, On the Radio was much appreciated by the crowd. Small Town Moon was good; I’m unsure of whether I just desensitized myself to the drums by listening to the wellmont show a million times or if they actually don’t bother me now. But I didn’t feel as weird about this song as I did at the last show. That’s good right??? I was quite pleased to be able to actually SEE the instrumentalists in regina’s band (well not really the drummer, but whatever) this time. The cello has some great bits during the show (especially in Ne Me Quitte Pas). And the synth, well, I think I just like Brad, so I guess having seen him before (with his own band) has made me more receptive to the whole concept of it. He’s just good and serious. Anyway, Blue Lips felt especially intense, possibly because I could see her hands so well, their deliberateness, lifting off the keys and touching them again ever so gently. It was glorious. I’ll admit it, I’m a huge sucker for Patron Saint, I was smiling with glee, bouncing in my seat through this one. I think my friend was starting to wonder about my sanity. It definitely sounded a bit less rigid this time, which was excellent. I’m really really happy that Patron Saint has made a comeback, to say the least. This might sounds strange, but during All the Rowboats (and also a little in Ne Me Quitte Pas), I felt like regina was disappearing, like she was being swallowed by the song. I don’t necessarily mean her voice. But what I mean, is that the song’s presence felt bigger than her presence. And I bet she’d love to hear me saying that, but I don’t like it. It’s sort of like the concept of wearing the dress not letting the dress wear you, if you get what I’m saying. Even so, when I looked over at my friend she had this amazed wry little smile on her face as if to say, "she’s really making gun noises with her mouth? I can’t quite believe it. Wow!." Sailor song was a nice throwback. And Silly-Eye Color Generalizations again found her standing 4 feet in front of me. I was insanely happy when she invited Jack out for Call them Brothers; I had been worried that it might not happen, because there was not a Jack sized mic anywhere on the stage. It was brought out special. I love the song and I love their interactions. It was both funny and endearing when she said that his comment about the song writing process was "bullshit." During their performance I was mesmerized by the way Regina’s eyes remained tightly closed throughout, but Jack’s eyes were wide open gazing off into the massive audience. I was also struck by Regina’s exceptionally delicate whispering/singing at the end of that song. Yes, I love it a lot.

After Call them Brothers, Regina momentarily forgot that she was supposed to be moving to the keyboard for Dance Anthem and walked to the piano instead. So, the show isn’t quiet perfected yet I guess, which is fine by me. Although it does seem to be getting better; less confusion, less rigidness than the wellmont. Regina seemed to be in a great mood, she had this intense look of wonderment in her eyes as she surveyed the crowd more at length than she typically does. Maybe because of not playing her guitar songs, she needs to get a good look at other times now or maybe it was just because of her history at this venue. (She mentioned that Tower Theater was the first venue she ever played at on the very first show of the Strokes tour.) The crowd was ok. One interesting request, during a quiet moment, was for Real Love… and when she didn’t acknowledge it, the person continued clarifying "...the cover song... by John Lennon...Real Love?” Regina said nothing. Another time someone yelled Braille. There was a long pause, and I thought she was going to say something, but she did not. Later she commented about how bossy the audience was. The stubborn philadephians vs her the stubborn New Yorker as she put it.

I’m still getting used to (and LOVING) the fact that Ne Me Quitte Pas and Oh Marcello are regular fixtures of the show and I will keep getting to hear them. It’s great. Firewood, I noticed she was no longer counting out loud during the waltzy part, though she was smiling and looking at the keys, looking like she WANTED to count. I was a little surprised to hear Eet. I don’t know why considering it was a single and she played it at practically every show last tour. I was just always under the impression that it was a "hard" song and she’d ditch it from the setlist asap. I feel like I sometimes underestimate Laughing With, and I should not. It had me on the verge of tears. Then of course, she played Open, and after listening with rapt attention for a few lines I realized I was shaking. Shaking, with eyes glazed over by tears, I watched the yellow lights emblazon her from behind thinking about how oddly fitting that color was for the song. It was kind of a gross color. Gross like "a room I built myself...day after day I wake up feeling, feeling" The gasping, the everything, was perfect, spellbinding. She closed out the set with The Party. I’m a huge fan of it already. Even after listening to it hundreds and hundreds of times on repeat in the past month I still really don’t know exactly what it all means, but I know I LOVE it. The encore of Us, Fidelity, and Samson garnered a lot of sing-alongs. Particularly during Fidelity, I felt this odd feeling as if being crushed between two walls of sound. Regina on one side and the audience singing behind me and all of the sound meeting right on top of me. All too soon it was over and Regina waved and curtseyed and waved some more and smiled and waved and took her time exiting the stage.

After the show, we went out into the pleasantly warm night. A huge crowd, held back by barriers (again...) was already formed by Regina’s bus. It did not dissipate much, maybe because it was Saturday, maybe because security was too nice. (who knew one day I’d be wishing for nasty security?) Not sure how long we waited, over an hour at least, watching all the equipment being brought out and the band members trickle out, graffiti things, laugh, and leave. My friend was about to nap on the sidewalk since she’s a doctor and got no sleep the night before, but she loves me so she waited with me because she knows how important these things are to me. <3 Finally regina came out and greeted all the waiters, signed things endlessly and took tons of pictures smiling all along. I was freaking out, because I had something I wanted her to sign. But I hate barriers and huge crowds. Eventually satisfied people began to leave and she came to us. I got a hug. Then, not so calmly, explained that this was going to take a minute and extracted my copy of 11:11 from its heavily bubbled wrapped protective coverings and handed it to her. She was like, "oh great, now I’m afraid to drop it!" She signed it ever so carefully, wondering where I could’ve obtained such a thing. Someone commented that she didn’t want to know. Haha, that’s about right. About that time I heard all these hushed quizzical musings from the remaining crowd about what exactly I HAD that was eliciting such a response. Soon enough, the cd was safely back in its nice cozy padded envelope. She momentarily turned to several other people to sign things. But came back and we asked if we could take a "brumstix" picture, which launched us in to the brumstix redesign discussion. It felt good that she was having a serious discussion with us really asking us for OUR opinion. We matter. I don’t know what will come of it, hopefully improvements, but that’s certainly hard to say. It’s less the "look" changing and more the "giant corporation" owning us/deleting things that worries me, but who knows. As they say, it’s the thought that counts.