I sadly did not attend nearly as many shows as I have in the past, and even worse I didn’t do a Midnight Review for any of the shows I do go to! I always have 2014 to step up my game, well you know if I don’t, well… ok lets not get morbid here. Instead I give you mini-reviews of the shows I went to. A great time to reflect on 2013 the music, the shows, the performances, the cramped feet, and the late nights.

JANUARY:

Lady Gaga at Staples | I’m a yes person. I try to say yes to life and different experiences. So even though I’ve never been a huge Lady Gaga fan, when my girl Liz offers me tickets to see her, I say YES! Also when you know it would make your sister ecstatic to be your guest, you decide to be the bester swester in der werlt. So I saw Lady Gaga and it was a theatrical spectacle of dark wonderment. Her audience is filled with adoring fans, and my favorite part was when she pulled a green haired kid from the pit to dance the last song. He was so on point! In the video below he comes on at 2:00 min. What an amazing life experience for him, a moment he will treasure forever. Lady Gaga was pretty bad ass for giving that to him.

FEBRUARY

Zola Jesus & Beach Party at Echoplex | I really like Beach Party, so much I reached out to them to interview. Unfortunately I accidentally reached out to the wrong Beach Party. Lesson learned: double check the music of the band your about to email on their website, and reference past tour dates. Zola Jesus was amazing!! She’s an extremely confident performer, but not arrogant. When you think about the artistry of music, she exudes it without the air of pretension or forced energy that follows that is attached to those kind of performers.

Mark Kozelek at First Unitarian Church | Ever since I saw Shopgirl, I’ve been in love with the band Sun Kill Moon. Mark Kozelek plays the singer in the movie’s pseudo rock band that takes Jeremy (Jason Schwartzman) on the road. Also Sun Kil Moon’s song Carry Me Ohio is the background music to the scene where Mirabelle (Claire Danes) decides to let Ray Porter (Steve Martin) character back into her life, cause he’s never left her heart. I’ve explained more about the movie, then the music.  But he hits this nerve, plucks the heart strings that resonates deeper than other music.  I have a Pandora station that’s seeded by Sun Kil Moon called Siesta Music.  Coincidentally during the performance the music was so beautiful it kept putting me to sleep, yet between each song I was wide awake. I loved and hated it all at the same time. Loved the music, hated that I kept going in and out of sleep cycles.