ReSpekt.

“Well, I got it!” A horrible cold that is; not much cause for excitement. My hectic schedule this week should have been foreshadowing enough that I was going to get sick. I always seem to get a cold at the most unfortunate times, like when I’m rehearsing for ABT, setting my first piece AND going to North Carolina this weekend. It’s just the perfect time to have a debilitating cold. As much as I didn’t want to, I decided today that it was probably better for me to stay home sick from work rather than go and keep pushing through it. I am worried about the fact that my piece isn’t quite ready more than anything else.

Last night my cold was going full force when I went to see the incredible Regina Spektor at Town Hall. I have been waiting for months for this show so you can imagine my frustration of having my head floating ten feet above my body. I did my best to stay focused, but David and I were both zoning after about an hour. As she took the stage she was so demure and dressed in a dowdy housewife floral print dress. Her humble demeanor and explosion of auburn hair completed the look with incredible success.

Any timid vibes she gave out before she started her set were completely annihilated the minute she took the piano. For those of you who don’t know the artist, I suggest you go out and buy her latest album as quickly as you can. She plays the piano with the precision of a classical pianist while still infusing it with pop music sensibilities. Her lyrics are both poetic and fun at the same time and you have never heard someone use their voice quite like she does.

(Pulling out the electric guitar. Fuzzy. In case you thought you were just having vision problems.)

At times she sat there accompanying herself by banging a drumstick on a wooden chair. Other times she kept the beat by pulsing her fingers on the microphone. She even picked up the electric guitar at one point. It was clear that this woman has a completely unique way of expressing herself that while clear on her CD’s is even more apparent in person. For a while she had a band come out and lend her a hand but in my opinion they took away from her. On her CD’s the balance of the band is better but in concert she is strongest when it’s just her and the piano. Her lyrics deserve to be heard clearly and with the band it was difficult.

What I love about Regina is the completely different approach she takes to songwriting. It’s rare these days for find a singer who leaves things a little open to interpretation. She doesn’t say things like “I’m A Slave For You” but at times she gets much more suggestive than that, just in a nuanced way. At the same time she writes catchy hooks that you want to sing along to.

The crowd last night was displaying typical concert behavior, shouting things like “I love you Regina!” “ Yay,” “I love your boobs (or boots?)” “Hooray,” and so on. My personal favorite was when amidst the shouts of song titles people wanted to hear, someone shouted “PLAY WHAT YOU WANT!” That sums up what I love about her, she seems to always play and create what she wants which consistently defies categorization.

Below you can listen to the song “On The Radio” which contains some of my favorite lyrics right now:
this is how it works
you're young until you're not
you love until you don't
you try until you can't
you laugh until you cry
you cry until you laugh
and everyone must breathe
until their dying breath

this is how it works
you peer inside yourself
you take the things you like
and try to love the things you took
and then you take that love you made
and stick it into some--
someone else's heart
pumping someone else's blood