Your hair was long when we first met.
Back when I was a student a girlfriend introduced me to the music of Tori Amos. Given that she was quirky and intelligent and I'm quite susceptible to that sort of thing I became a fan; her music was good, often funny, and she sang about Neil Gaiman's Sandman, which is quite important when you're 19 and like comics.
As time went by Tori slipped from "quirkily interesting" to "worryingly crackers" and her output declined in quality leaving a gap in the market for a girl-on-a-piano singer/songwriter, so it's quite handy that Regina Spektor happened along when she did. If you don't know Regina, she sings Tori-esque songs in a Bjorkish voice and ticks all the boxes for a certain type of fan; little and pretty with a cracked, meaningful voice performing songs which seem lighthearted at first glance but which have an underlying dark heart. I went to a concert of hers in Hyde Park last night.
For me, it was a bit of a departure; normally when I go to concerts I have tinnittus for a few days after and come out covered in bruises and maybe with a cracked rib or two - and that's just the baroque adagio evenings at St-Martins-in-the-fields. When I go and see Rammstein things can get get really rough.
Certainly I don't think I'm a typical Regina Spektor fan; the crowd seemed largely comprised of both skinny metrosexuals with open-neck shirts and manbags, and the sort of girl who looks like she owns more than one cat.
It was really rather good; her performance is recording-crisp and closing your eyes you could easily believe that you've just put a CD on rather than gone to stand in a marquee to listen. It was interesting just how much she seems to inspire obsession in her fans; I've been to concerts with twice as many people there where the crowd made less noise, and there were a lot - more than I've seen at any other concert, I'd say - of couples canoodling during the romantic numbers. Overall, it was a really nice evening out in the park; sunny and warm with booze and a highly-talented entertainer at the top of her game.
So what did you do last night?
As time went by Tori slipped from "quirkily interesting" to "worryingly crackers" and her output declined in quality leaving a gap in the market for a girl-on-a-piano singer/songwriter, so it's quite handy that Regina Spektor happened along when she did. If you don't know Regina, she sings Tori-esque songs in a Bjorkish voice and ticks all the boxes for a certain type of fan; little and pretty with a cracked, meaningful voice performing songs which seem lighthearted at first glance but which have an underlying dark heart. I went to a concert of hers in Hyde Park last night.
For me, it was a bit of a departure; normally when I go to concerts I have tinnittus for a few days after and come out covered in bruises and maybe with a cracked rib or two - and that's just the baroque adagio evenings at St-Martins-in-the-fields. When I go and see Rammstein things can get get really rough.
Certainly I don't think I'm a typical Regina Spektor fan; the crowd seemed largely comprised of both skinny metrosexuals with open-neck shirts and manbags, and the sort of girl who looks like she owns more than one cat.
It was really rather good; her performance is recording-crisp and closing your eyes you could easily believe that you've just put a CD on rather than gone to stand in a marquee to listen. It was interesting just how much she seems to inspire obsession in her fans; I've been to concerts with twice as many people there where the crowd made less noise, and there were a lot - more than I've seen at any other concert, I'd say - of couples canoodling during the romantic numbers. Overall, it was a really nice evening out in the park; sunny and warm with booze and a highly-talented entertainer at the top of her game.
So what did you do last night?