REGINA SPEKTOR!!! (+ Jupiter One)

Regina Spektor at the Sydney Opera House, 28th April 2010

Regina Spektor is easily one of the most talented and modest musicians out there & blends musical creativity & superb skill whilst also appealing to the masses (as one could tell from her sold out shows and the full throttle encores) - which we all know is hard to do in today's music scene. I could not imagine any way in which her performance last night could have been more enjoyable. There was a great mixture of current and older songs - of which I had a mild freak out when I heard the bom-de-bump-bump opening of Hotel Song. And of course, Regina's charming quirkiness had the crowd wrapped around her finger.

The only thing that irritated me, was the empty seats during the support act. I'm not a great fan of support-act snobbery, in fact I think by coming for the support act, the crowd in turn supports the main artist even more, and this can work vice versa. Those who missed Jupiter One were the ones who missed out. Like Regina, they combine classical musical skill with melodies that the audience as a whole could appreciate. Imagine a guy jamming to a violin, played like a guitar? K Ishibashi is awesome. On top of that, imagine rocking out to a cello!? And then add some drums. This musical combination and style is what my ears have been searching for. Needless to say, I bought their cd after.

I won't go into details of every time someone called out "Play [insert song]!". Although my favourite sequence was "Play your favourite" followed by "Give her a minute!" followed by "shut up!". Overall, it was a great night & I look forward to the next time I will be able to see her.

ps - sooooo much better in real life than on the cd - now that's saying something!
pps - On the Radio

set list

That Time

standing ovation