5.29.09 Christine Havrilla House Concert

Some of you may or may not know this about me, but I have musicians come play at my house on occasion. I've blogged about past shows here. This last Friday, I had the pleasure of having Christine Havrilla play in my living room. It was AMAZING!!! We had about 25 people in my living room listening to her play two short sets of music. I've included some photos here. Some of them are not quite in focus, but I think they capture the energy of the crowd. My favorite moments from the night include:

*People fighting over who was going to take the chair on my sidewalk home! :)

*The whole lot of us forgetting the lyrics to "Time After Time"!!!

*Christine stopping halfway through a song because it was more interesting to watch three of us try to get beer out of the mini-keg in the kitchen.

*Everyone hanging out before and after the show.

Thanks to everyone for coming!!!!








Christine's sister stealing her track jacket!


Christine & I


Group Photo!!






Gina & I

Road Trip, Day 3 & 4, Missoula to Spokane

I'm a little late on this last post of the trip. Sorry about that. Got home and have been working and whatnot since then. Here's the final bit about the four day trip I took to see Brandi Carlile on tour.

So for Day 3 of the trip, I spent an extra day in Missoula, MT hanging out with bcfan. Unfortunately, both of us were not feeling well, so we met for breakfast, walked around downtown Missoula for a bit, then split up for the afternoon. I took a nap and got some quality internet time in at a cafe near the cottage I was staying at. We met back up in the late afternoon to go check out a record store and see more of the "Hip Strip" on the other side of the Higgins Street Bridge. I ended up saying my goodbyes to bcfan, and heading back to the cottage, where I hung out with Sharon for the evening, watching a movie. It was a nice laid back evening, which I really needed. I felt so much better in the morning when I got up.

Day 4, I woke up and got all my stuff packed into my truck. I made my way to The University of Montana bookstore to get a new UM sweatshirt. I found a nice hoodie and got myself on I-90, with the intention of stopping at Cracker Barrel just off Reserve Street. I have been hearing my East Coast friends talk on and on about this place and when bcfan told me there was one in Missoula, I had to check it out. I was not disappointed! I was the youngest person in the place by 30 years. It was awesome! They were playing old, old country music for the background music. The food was delicious and cheap. I had grits, biscuit/gravy, bacon, eggs, and hashbrown casserole for less than $6!!



I finally made my way back onto the road and drove to Spokane for the next show at the Fox Theater with the Spokane Symphony Orchestra. I have driven through Spokane countless times on my way to/from Missoula, but have never been there before. I found the area where the theater was located without difficulty and found a parking garage to park my truck. It was super cheap and close to the venue. I decided to wander around for a bit and found an art gallery with a chatty owner who gave me some ideas of things to do. I decided to head back to the truck to get my laptop and go find a cafe with wifi. On my way back to my truck, I run into Sunny and Em, friends from the againtoday.com forum. They were looking for a place to drop of their luggage so I offered my truck. They had a previous meet-up with people so I went to a cafe, had some more coffee and got caught up on a few things.

The plan was to meet up at a place in the mall, called the Sawtooth Grill, for dinner. We all met up around 5p for food, drinks and fun. It was great! There were about 12 of us that showed up, many of whom I hadn't seen in a while. Eventually, we made our way to the venue and found our seats for the show.

Katie Herzig opened. I love her! I have her set recorded on audio. She is amazing and I can't wait to see her again.

We got mixed messages about the photo policy for the show. I went and asked one of the security people and she said if there wasn't a flash and they couldn't see my viewfinder screen, then no one was probably going to bother me. So basically, she was giving me permission to take pictures. I did take a few but my shutter is so loud, I didn't want to take a lot and mess up the audio I was recording. I was also having issues getting the white balance right so a lot of my pictures were washed out. I'm still figuring out the new camera and its settings. These are a few of the pictures I took:







Setlist:
60 Years On (with Orchestra)
Fall Apart Again (with Orchestra)
Have You Ever
Follow (with Orchestra)
What Can I Say
Before It Breaks
Oh Dear
Turpentine (with Orchestra)
Josephine
The Story (with Orchestra)
Pride & Joy (with Orchestra)

Encore:
Jackson/Folsom Prison Blues
Hallelujah (with Orchestra)

All in all, it was a great show spent with great friends and I am really glad I was able to see another of the symphony shows. They really are fun to listen to because the music is played in a new and different way and the audience is so attentive. No drunk girls!

Road Trip, Day 2, Boise to Missoula

I started my morning a little late. I took a quick shower, packed up my things and headed to towards the nearest gas station to top off my tank. I also found a Dutch Bros. Coffee drive-thru. I finally left Boise around 7 a.m. Even though I only had about 400 miles to drive today, it was going to be mostly on two lane highways, so I needed to limit my stops and just keep pushing myself to get to Missoula by 3 p.m. Traffic was pretty minimal out of Boise. I was able to make really good time to Payette where I caught Highway 95. I was surprised that the speed limit was 65 mph except when going through small towns. That helped with making better time.





Once again, the scenery was breathtaking. Starting with farmland and ranches, as I worked my way north, it turned into rolling mountain ranges on both sides with snow-capped peaks. I was in the middle of the Hells Canyon area, at one point, following the Little Salmon River for miles. Eventually I made it to Kooskia, ID and caught Hwy. 12, one of my all time favorite roads to drive on! It follows the Lochsa River and it is seriously the most scenic road I have ever been on. At one point the traffic stopped for a bit due to road construction, so I was able to get out and take a few pictures of the river. As I made my way closer to Missoula, I eventually crossed over Lolo Pass. There is still A LOT of snow up there. The roads were clear but there was a good 8-10 feet of snow in the parking lot at the visitor center, which was closed. :(

Favorite Signs Seen Along the Way:

Adopted Highway Road Sign- Yahwehs 666 Warning Assembly

Seen at a hotel- "Since Jan 1 we have served 503 happy guests and 1 grouch"

I made it into Missoula around 2:30 p.m. and called Sharon, my couchsurfing.com connection. I left her a message and made my way downtown to find a coffee shop with wi-fi and caffeine. Parking was easy and cheap in downtown Missoula, just off Higgins. I went into Butterfly Herbs and ordered some food, some drink and sat down to get caught up on internet stuff. I left there after about an hour and made my way to Rockin’ Rudy’s, which used to be the best record store in town. I was sadly disappointed to find that their music selection was very limited. They used to have a lot of music and a little bit of “gift shop” stuff. Now, they have a lot of “gift shop” stuff and very little music. While I was there, Sharon called me and it turns out her house was right around the corner. I went to the house and got settled in. I managed to get a little nap in and also make contact with bcfan, one of my friends from the AgainToday.com fan forum for Brandi Carlile. We have been to many shows together and I was really excited to have a fellow ATer to share the concert experience with.

I met up with bcfan at the Wilma Theater at 6 p.m. We started the line and it quickly grew to over 50 people by about 7 p.m. For most of the people in line, this was their first Brandi Carlile experience, so it was a lot of fun to talk to them. We met some cool girls who I ended up hanging out with for a bit after the show. I think I may have convinced two of them to go to the Spokane show in two days! When the doors opened, we made our way to the front of the venue. We sat down in the middle front row. The Missoula girls told us that after Angel Taylor’s set to be prepared to go to the front of the stage (there were barriers still, but OMG, we were so close!) and the rest of the show would be standing. I really appreciated their tip. I asked the security guys about the photography policy for the night. Cameras were allowed as long as there was no flash or videotaping. Yes!!! I am sad to say that my attempt at bootlegging the audio failed miserably. I got the show from “Turpentine” on. I don’t know what happened. I was really hoping to get “Creep”. Oh well. I did get Angel Taylor’s set, this time.

Angel Taylor came on and once again wowed the crowd with her amazing voice, sensitive lyrics and catchy music. This girl is going to be huge and I feel fortunate to say I saw her open for Brandi. She played a new song tonight that doesn’t even have a title yet. It was very touching and I can’t wait to listen to it again. I was able to get a picture with her after the show. She’s very cool. She actually remembered me from Boise!

We all had a great time at the show last night. There was great energy in the crowd, and there were a couple annoying token drunk girls. One was just behind me to the left. She was the “It’s my Birthday!” token drunk girl and she was ANNOYING! I told her to shut up at one point because I was getting tired of her yelling stupid stuff. She actually did quiet down for a bit, which was nice. bcfan had an equally annoying token drunk girl to the right of her who kept pushing her around. Our new Montana friends were great, and were really excited to hear “Creep”, “Josephine” and “Hallelujah”. I had told them she might not play those songs so they were pretty stoked when she played them.

The sound in the Wilma Theater was a hundred times better than the Knitting Factory and I think it made a huge difference, especially when playing songs like “Oh Dear” and “Dying Day”. I really love the “Jackson” prelude they’ve been doing, too. Tim just jamming on his guitar, which makes a great build up to “Jackson” and then “Folsom Prison Blues”. I tried my darndest to get a picture of Josh doing the cello spin but had no luck. It was just too fast. I think my favorite part of the night was the encore of “Let It Be” with Angel Taylor. Both of the twins did a verse or two and Angel did the chorus a few times, too. It was amazing! I actually had chills from hearing it. During “Hallelujah”, the cat-calling and annoying, loud drunk people were in full effect. I am not a huge fan of this song (having heard it a lot during the 2007 Tour), but at the same time, I really like it when the crowd quiets down and is respectful. This did not happen at all. They were talking and shouting and hollering and carrying on throughout the whole song. Grrr…..

After the show, I was hoping she would sign, but I also knew from talking to her in Boise that they were driving back to Seattle right after the show to take care of business on Wednesday before heading back to Spokane on Thursday. She didn’t sign, but some of us did go to the bus and hang out for a bit. That’s where I ran into Angel Taylor again and was able to get a picture with her. She seriously is so sweet and kind. I was pretty beat from all the traveling so I said my farewells to my new Montana friends and headed back to the house to get some sleep. It was a great night

Setlist:
Follow
Closer/I’ve Just Seen A Face
Downpour
Have You Ever
Dying Day
Dreams
Before It Breaks
Oh Dear
What Can I Say
Creep (I can’t remember exactly when this was played and it was not on the setlist)
Josephine
Cannonball
Turpentine
The Story
Folsom

Encore:
Let It Be
Hallelujah

Road Trip, Day 1, PDX to Boise

First, a little background on why I am taking this much needed solo road trip to Boise, Missoula, and Spokane. As many of you know, I am a fan of Brandi Carlile's music. I had originally planned to go to just the Spokane show, mostly because it was another show with a symphony and those shows are AMAZING! However, shortly after that date was arranged, more shows in the Pacific NW were added, so I figured why not make a little road trip out of it, see some beautiful country, hear some kick ass music and maybe meet some new people. Today, like any other day I go to a Brandi Carlile concert, was phenomenal in so many ways.




I left the house around 6:15 a.m. this morning and had no problems with traffic in the Portland area. It was amazing. I made it out of Portland and into the beautiful sunrise along the Columbia River Gorge. I had trouble staying on the road, due to all the gorgeous views I was catching out of the corner of my eye.....and not because I was "tweeting" or checking my email on my phone! :) I noticed the new wind turbines just outside of The Dalles (after the requisite stop at Dutch Bros. Coffee)and I would venture to guess they continued through to Pendleton. I haven't been out that direction in a while, so seeing all of them kind of caught me by surprise. As I continued through eastern Oregon, I came across the Blue Mountains and the Wallowa Mountains. I stopped just outside of Pendleton and took some pictures at a viewpoint. I also met some nice cowboys from AZ that had just dropped off some horses and were making their way home.





The second stop was at a rest stop in between La Grande and Baker City. I also stopped in Baker City to get gas and food. For the most part, I limited my stops so I could make better time. I set my cruise control to 70 mph and pretty much stayed at that pace the entire trip. It freaked me out when the speed limit was 75 mph in Idaho and I also lost an hour due to the time change. I arrived in Boise around 3 p.m. MST and promptly found my way to the place I had arranged to stay through the wonders of couchsurfing.com. Lea was a great host, hooked me up with internet and gave me directions to get to the venue.




I made my way to the Knitting Factory. I found on-street parking and started walking to where I thought it was. It's in a weird spot and luckily I had been warned it was, so I was not surprised. I found it, saw there was no line and then made a dash to find coffee. There was a Tully's around the corner....not the best, but it was closest and would allow me to keep an eye on the venue for line formation.




Around 5 p.m., I made my way back to the venue and a line had begun to form. I found my place and promptly started chatting it up with people. The woman standing behind me turned out to be a local musician. Her name is Mel Wade. I even bought one of her CD's!!! She's having a CD release party on Thursday, if you're in Boise. I made friends with the people standing behind her too. They were a family of four with two young girls that were HUGE Brandi fans. This was their first show. I loved the excitement and enthusiasm of these kids.

They opened the doors a little late, around 7:40 p.m. and we were the first ones in and I was a little surprised that there were a lot of people already in there with the VIP passes. I made my way to the front and got a front row seat, Tim's side, no problem! Mel and her friend sat next to me. The Knitting Factory has a strict NO CAMERA policy, but no one was checking bags so I kept my camera with me. I was planning to check it at the coat check if asked, but no one asked, so I kept it! :) Shooting on the sly is a whole other thing, though. I got maybe 10 good pictures. The rest were crap.

Angel Taylor opened the show and did an amazing job. I was really impressed with her set and she even did a cover of "Sex On Fire" by Kings of Leon!! She's giving away her CD at the shows, but unfortunately I didn't get one last night, so hoping to get one in Missoula.

The show was amazing! Brandi relayed many of the same stories she has shared on this tour, including the twins recording in the studio, Phil's obsession with UFO's, the story behind the poster, but added more details regarding her recent recording session with Elton John. Brandi and the Twins were able to see Elton John play and he dedicated "Tiny Dancer" to her.

Three of my favorite quotes of the night:

(someone in crowd) "Play Hallelujah!!!"
(someone else in crowd) "You play what you want Brandi!!"

(someone in crowd) "Play The Story!"
(Brandi) "I can pretty much guarantee you're gonna hear that one tonight"

Brandi talking about the white stretch limo they took to the airport: "Smells a little like stripper in there, not that I would know!"

During "Oh Dear" there was some weird feedback on the mic, so they had to start over. The crowd was loud, but not too disresepectful, and everyone seemed to be having a good time. Everyone was on their feet from "The Story" until the end of the show, which being a seated show, was a big deal.

She didn't really sign after the show, and for good reason. Apparently, they have to go back to Seattle between the Missoula and Spokane shows to meet with a drummer or something along that line. Crazy! I was able to confirm that Allison Miller will be joining them later this summer, which is really, really exciting! She was surprised that I knew who she was! The little kids in the line behind us were able to meet her, which really made me happy.

It was a great show. I met some cool people, had a great time, and once again, was blown away by the Brandi Carlile Band!

Setlist:
Follow
Closer To You/I've Just Seen A Face
Downpour
Have You Ever
Dying Day
Over You
Before It Breaks
Oh Dear
What I Can Say
Late Morning Lullaby
Turpentine
The Story
Jackson
Folsom Prison Blues

Encore:
I Will
Let It Be

I have the official setlist out in the truck, so I will check this in the morning and update as needed. The above setlist is from the audio I bootlegged, which by the way sucks, so it will never see the light of day anywhere else! Sorry!

4.15.09 Chris Pureka @ Mississippi Studios

Last night I attended my first show at the newly remodeled, and very much improved, Mississippi Studios. This venue has always been my favorite place to catch live, acoustic music ever since that fateful day on March 31, 2007 when I saw Brandi Carlile perform for the first time. Since then, I have seen Erin Mckeown, Girlyman, Chris Pureka, Toshi Reagon and countless others perform in what I consider the best place in Portland to hear an intimate music performance.

For those of you who have never been to Mississippi Studios before, the old venue used to seat about 80 people, tops. It was very cozy and felt like you were in a friend's living room listening to music. It was also very awkward and difficult to move around because it was so small. The remodeled version takes everything I would want in a venue and executes it perfectly. The entrance is now on Mississippi Avenue. Walking in, there is a bar area with tables to sit at. They check your tickets and you walk to the other side and there is a nice wide open space for either standing room only shows, or seated shows. The bar has two sides to it, so you can go and have a beer and sit in the lounge area or you can get a beer once in the venue. The best part about that, is there is a garage door that is lowered once the set begins, thus keeping all bar noise away from the music!!! There is also tiered seating upstairs if you want to sit down for the standing shows.

Chris Pureka has been a favorite of mine ever since my friend Charlotte told me about her music a little over a year ago. She usually performs solo or with a fiddle player, so imagine my surprise to see a full band set-up when we arrived.

Her opener was Carrie Biell, a resident of Seattle. She had a great sound, reminiscent of other Pacific NW alt-country songstresses, including Sera Cahoone (who played on her latest album), Star Anna, Laura Gibson, and Laura Veirs. Her pedal steel/dobro-playing guy, Steve Norman, also played with Chris later on. All in all, I enjoyed her performance and plan to buy her music as soon as my budget allows!

I wish I had a setlist, at some point I will listen to the audio I boot-legged and compile the setlist here. Chris played songs from her past two albums, "Dryland" and "Driving North". She also played the majority of her songs off her new EP, "Chimera".

As I stated before, Chris usually plays either solo or with her fiddle player. I thoroughly enjoy her music no matter who is playing with her. She comes off a little timid and unsure of herself in front of the microphone. Some would even go so far as to say she hides behind the microphone. Well, this show was completely different.

She had her usual fiddle player, who also plays bass, a drummer, another fiddle player/vocalist, and Steve Norman on pedal steel. Having a full band made a huge difference in the energy on stage and added some depth to many of her songs.

I'm going to listen to the show again tomorrow and update this blog. In the meantime, here are some pictures from the show: