i may be missing some songs and she may not have played some of these. i basically went through each record and tried to recall if these songs were played.

Set List:
Cold Cold Water
Don’t Die In Me
The Light
Gestation of the Secret Beetle
Recommendation
Light The Match
Monument
Jerusalem
Exactly Where We’re From
Sweepstakes Prize (?)
La Familia
Engine Heart (?)
Archipelago
Cloudbusting (Kate Bush Cover)

I tried to listen to all the Mirah records the day before the show to familiarize myself with some of the songs. I liked what i heard and went to see her play. She was playing quite a large venue so the crowd was really distracting- people were drunk, talking, walking around and she makes the type of music where you have to listen without distractions. She has a really beautiful voice and played a nice mix of songs from all her records.

My favorites include:
The Light
Don’t Die In Me
Cold Cold Water
Cloudbusting

I first posted about Missy Higgins here. Since then, Missy has had her music featured on Grey’s Anatomy, Smallville, and One Tree Hill. As a result, she’s been getting a lot of promotion and sold out a bunch of dates, including this show, on her current U.S. tour. It was only a matter of time before they heard her infectious music…

This time around, Missy flew her band in and had a guitarist, keyboardist, drummer, and trumpet player. Missy kicked the set off playing solo on the piano. During the rest of the set she switched between keyboards and guitar doing a few more solo songs. I felt that the band did a good job of re- creating the sound of the record (the trumpet player was especially a nice touch) and added a lot of energy to Steer, Peachy, and Going North. But, during more intimate numbers like “Where I Stood”, “Don’t Ever” and “Warm Whispers” the band really overshadowed the songs and detracted from her nuanced vocals. On stage, Missy exudes such a confidence and charm that its hard not to shut up and start taking her seriously. In between songs, she shared some of the themes and stories from her songs while making the audience laugh at her impressions of the American accent. She played:

Set List: (not in the correct order)
Any Day Now (p/ solo)
The River (p)
Don’t Ever (g)
Scar (p)
The Sound of White (p/ solo)
Peachy (g)
Angela (g)
The Wrong Girl (g)
Steer (g)
Where I Stood (p)
This Is How It Goes (p)
100 Around The Bend (g)
Forgive Me (g/ solo)
Secret (g/ solo)
Warm Whispers (p)
Going North (g)
Dusty Road (g)

g= guitar p= keyboards

My favorite song of the night was definitely ‘The Sound of White’- i was such a big fan of her first record and hearing it for the first time just brought all the feelings back. Also, Steer, Scar, and This Is How It Goes with the full band sounded so rich and bold.

Additional Photos Can Be Found Here

Sia’s new record Some People Have Real Problems is really good. I liked about half of the songs from Colour The Small One . I felt the first record had a handful of really great songs but felt a little monotonous beyond those stand out tracks. My only problem with Sia is that she over singings and i tire of it. The newest record was pretty solid- it varied in sound, tempo but was still Sia.

Moving onto the show- I’ve seen Sia a few years back when her track on Six Feet Under became a hit. I really enjoy seeing Sia perform because she’s quirky and her music makes such an emotional impact that i didn’t really notice her over singing. This was the case at Hear Music. She had a backing band (guitarist, bass, keyboards) and it was on a small outside stage with a crowd of 50 + people plus pedestrians that stopped to listen.

She played “You Have Been Loved” for the first time and i thought it was really beautiful.

“The Girl” was played without a drummer and she had the crowd imagine the drum beats. Without the beats, it sounded really stripped down because its such and integral part of the song aside from her vocals.

The performance was also part of a signing which i wasn’t aware of. So, the signing was an added bonus of showing up. I was near the back of the line with maybe 30 people in front of me and it took about an hour and a half to get inside the store. It turns out the reason it took so long was that Sia was actually talking to each person, giving them hugs, autographs and/ or photos. That really surprised me since her shows are selling out in almost all the major cities and she was so nice and obliging. Check out Sia’s new record and see her on tour!

Setlist:

Day Too Soon
Little Black Sandals
The Girl (no drums)
You Have Been Loved (debut)
Soon We’ll Be Found
Breathe Me

please anticipate the following posts:

Sia
Missy Higgins
Mirah/ the blow

as well as the back to back shows i have tonight for:
8mm
carina round

thank you

~AT

I’ve been a fan of Carina’s since last year when a friend invited me to one of her gigs at Hotel Cafe. I showed up and was completely blown away. This was her first show since coming back to the U.S. after a round of show dates in the UK. Yes, she’s from Wolverhampton, England but lives in Los Angeles.

I think im missing a few songs that she played but as best as i could get it:
Set List:

Come To You
Stolen Car
Elegy
Backseat (w/ crowd participation)
Untitled (new song)
Slow Motion Addict
Down Slow
Into My Blood

Its been a few months since E’ve gotten my Carina fix so im really glad she’s back and better than ever. She’s one of those artists that doesn’t give the audience hints to be quiet- she tells them to shut up and listen and with the attitude comes the talent to back it up. When she introduced “Backseat” she demanded the crowd to sing the backing vocals because they paid to get in so they should listen. The end result was one of the best version of “Backseat” that i have heard.

I’ve never heard “Into My Blood” live before and midsong, she threw down her shitty guitar, grabbed the mike with both hands and started rocking out on the small stage throwing in her signature high pitched screams. Its a shame it was the last song in the set because it felt like Carina just got started. Here’s to hoping that Carina records more of those heavier rock numbers because she has the energy to pull it off.

Carina plays frequently at venues in Los Angeles so get updated here.