Nina Nastasia

So, the concert on Friday was great, but they weren't serving alcohol.  The venue is an art gallery, so they don't have a full bar anyway, but sometimes they'll bring in wine or beer to sell.  Not Friday.  Boo, hiss!  Two local bands opened up.  The first one was called The North Decade, pretty good.  Flavored guitars and good compositions, but lacking a real presence.  The second band was pretty/ugly.  They were better than I expected, especially considering that they only play like, two or three times a year.  Great vocals, layered and sweet, hairy boys and mousy girls.  Nina came on like an easy dream.  A chair, a mic, her Taylor guitar and a table with some candles on it.  There were probably 60-75 people in the audience, small, quiet and sober.  She was phenomenal.  So easy and pure.  My favorite song (aside from Stormy Weather) was That's All There Is -- I wish I could find a clip of it online, but for now, here's the lyrics.  So great: 

My dreams have come and gone 
The world is spinning faster each day 
And I am not the one 
My future promised I'd be 
I'm not hiding anything 
I'm not trying to fool you at all 
You keep expecting everything 
We're not like our pictures on the wall 
There's nothing wrong with us 
We still belong 

But that's all there is 
So stop all your dreaming 
It makes me so sad 
Let's keep what we had 

Sunday's never last 
It seems like it's the only time you'll sleep 
And you can't help looking back 
At everything you promised we would see 
You go out almost every night 
Pretending you're like everyone we meet 
All I ever want is you 
All I ever want for you to see 
There's nothing wrong with us 
We still belong 

But that's all there is 
So stop all your dreaming 
It makes me so sad 
Let's keep what we had 

'Cause that's all there is 
So stop all your dreaming 
It makes me so sad 
Let us keep what we had

She commented on how quiet it was, and asked if she was the only one who was drinking.  Someone shouted, "Yes, unfortunately," because the gallery didn't have anything but coffee.  So she got up, went backstage, got a bottle of Jameson, filled her cup and sent it around for everyone to share.  I poured a shot in my coffee and felt at one with the universe.  It goes on my permanent list of memorable concert moments.

I went up to meet her after the show, and told her that this was the first concert I'd been to in a long time that I didn't have to review.  I could just relax and listen and not have to take notes.  I bought her most recent album and had her sign it.  She wrote: "Mandy--Thank you for coming to the show.  I'm glad you didn't have to worry about work."  Good times.