Last minute concert

I proved that I still do have a bit of spontaneous youth left in me this weekend.

A couple friends and I had planned to go see Ingrid Michaelson this weekend in Sacramento since I got back from Berlin. But a week and a half ago, Jess told me she couldn't go. I made a last ditch effort with a text on Thursday, thinking it was fruitless. On Friday, she pulled through, saying she had a baby sitter for her daughter and was ready to go.

So we braved the downpour in my Cavalier Saturday night and snagged some fast food on the way. We got there in time to stake out a spot right next to the stage like a bunch of groupies in the small venue she was playing at.

As usual, Ingrid was amazing. She has a few new songs I had yet to hear. The lyrics are always witty and interesting, and she has a knack for a catchy melody. I got to meet her afterwards and get my picture taken with her, grinning like a 14-year-old girl at a Justin Timberlake concert.

We figured the show would go to about midnight, and we would get home by 2 a.m. But 2 a.m. was closer to when it finished. We pulled in at about 4:45 a.m., a little foggy, but happy we had gone.

Lesson learned: The four hour drive was worth it.

Great American music

This weekend I went to San Francisco to a concert — which originally I thought was an Ingrid Michaelson concert, and later found out that wasn't necessarily the case. Nevertheless it was fantastic. It's called the Hotel Cafe Tour and consists of about a dozen artists rotating through, playing a couple songs each. Ingrid Michaelson was one of them, and she is more amazing live than on her CDs. She's a young artist who started out writing music in her parent's basement in New York. One of the inspiring things about her for me is that she writes a lot of her songs on piano.

The concert was at the Great American Music Hall, which sounds big, but is actually a pretty intimate venue. It also happens to be like 100 years old and decorated like it is, with high balconies overlooking a wooden dance floor.

At one point I managed to squirm my way up front and actually see something. Moving toward a stage with a popular singer on it is a little like sailing against the wind. You have to tack back and forth.

Ingrid played this song called "Chains," with some of the other female singers singing harmony. At one point, they broke off into a round. A recording can't quite capture it. With the way the speakers were positioned and how they overlapped each other, it completely enveloped us. I kind of wish Ingrid had played a little more, but someday when she's playing at huge venues like Shoreline, I'll be glad I saw her here.

Lesson learned: I like Meiko.