In Concert: Aqualung. Pete Yorn.

Bonus opener: Minibar. Later they functioned as Pete Yorn’s band. They were better as that.

The dude from Aqualung has such a pretty, pretty voice but he sounded much better at Lollapalooza which is pretty much the opposite of what you’d expect. I mean, big windy loud outdoor concert or inside at controlled venue, aren’t you expecting the latter to be the better sound? I felt like both the bass and the guitar player were turned up way too loud so whenever they joined in, you could barely hear the singer. Some songs sounded good, but most sounded muddled.

Pete Yorn, on the other hand, his songs sounded pretty good, but his stage banter? Oh so lame. (Rivaling only Rachael Yamagata in that respect. Singing = great; her banter = Not.) “I wrote this song on the East Coast. The East Coast of the United States.” Wow, so informative! And of course, to be followed by a song that never once mentions either the East Coast of the US (or anywhere else). Next one: “I learned this chord. So I wrote this song with it.” Seriously, Pete? Stick with the singin’. The singin’ sounded great although every song was definitely played as pepped up and ROCK as possible, even songs that are very slow and melancholy on the albums. It felt almost like Snow Patrol: rocking anthemed out on every song. UP UP UP. Sometimes I like a little down.

So: good, but none were great, compounded by what was thought at the time to be a caffeine withdrawal headache, or possibly an allergy headache, but turned out to be buddha-only-knows what kind of murderous horrible headache. And unexplainable, considering the SIXTEEN hours of sleep I pleasantly got the night before. Yup, 3:30 pm until 7:11 am. Woot.

In Concert: Ben Kweller. GOMEZ (!!)

I cannot see Ben Kweller without thinking of Leif Garrett. He’s a better musician, but he’s got the same hair, and he’s got a total 70s poppy sound. He was just as enjoyable as at Lollapalooza even though the mix seemed off (his vocals were LOUD compared to the rest) and the place wasn’t very full as he started pretty much right on time (what’s up with that. crazy, eh.).

As to Gomez…. Gomez was AWESOME. I have told you a zillion times how much I loved their album last year (“How We Operate”). Seeing them live, you know it wasn’t a fluke. Swapping between three leads, great guitar playing, intense moody songs, as well as lighter-hearted fare. Lovely. Really lovely. They’ve got such interesting (and interestingly different) voices; the harmonies were really great. Highly recommended.

Best of February.

February’s over? I personally happen to love February but I have to admit, I was pretty much of a schlub all month.

Let’s see, the best gig I went to in February had to be…the Essex Green opening for Camera Obscura because, horror of horrors, I only went to one concert all month! (What was I doing with my time?)

The best book I read in February…well I guess that would be Proust Book 3 (or “The Guermantes Way” as it’s called in this translation) but I’m not done reading it! I started it Feb 1, I believe, or Jan 31, and I’ve still got (exactly) 104 pages to go… Doh! That said, I did have some pretty unexpectedly busy weekends in the month, so what’s a girl to do?

Only one concert? and one book? OK, this is pretty pathetic so far…

The best movie I saw in February was by far Blood Diamond, although I may have personally enjoyed Music & Lyrics a little more. You know, it had music, and it wasn’t as heartbreaking.

I am all about not getting my heart broken in February since I certainly get it broken every other stupid month of the year.

As for tunes in February, I’ve been all over the place. Obsessively listening to the soundtrack for Music & Lyrics, enjoying the new Fall Out Boy, listening to lots and lots of Rogue Wave especially after a (new?) single played on FNL, digging The Bees (US) and Midlake (who I told you about twice (1, 2) and then finally got…very ’70s peaceful, easy feelin…), and listening to some stuff I bought at the very end of January that didn’t get much play that month (new Youth Group!!!! “Casino Twilight Dogs” (*LOVE*) and The Guggenheim Grotto). Still lovin’ the Shins although my ear can’t recognize what’s the new album and what’s old…

Random personal highlights of the month were: a) Ame came to visit!; b) I went “home” (to NYC) and quilted with Jackie (and ate with Em, Stephanie and Jenn!) and saw Shawn and the kids!!!; c) new specs; d) brunch with the Strizz and her man!; e) Steph and Mark slept over in a storm; f) another night at the darkroom (hey Chicago Amy! Tracy and I missed ya!); g) finally finding yummy Chinese in Chicago!; h) flowers from MaryKay (so sweet!); and i) we got some snow!!!!

Lowlights: a) Bears lost the Bowl; b) new computer didn’t work for a week and had to be dragged back and forth to the store; c) even OLDER! Ah, well. On to March…

Big Screen: Blood Diamond

Wow. For all my reluctance to go see this, I was pretty blown away when I finally did. Strong performances, intense storyline. Intense sadness. Quite the companion piece to any of the boy soldier books out now (including this one I read, as well as there’s another all over the front of bookstores right now).

As for the Oscars: Djimon Hounsou was robbed!! Robbed, I tell you. He’s amazing in this movie.

(For the record, I think Leo was robbed also…but in a different way: because he SHOULD have been nominated for “The Departed” and he should have won for that. While he was good in this movie, he was great in that one.)

DVD: Imagine Me & You

My cousin had recommended this and then one day I was looking over the “to be watched” pile and found I had already bought it. Bride walking down the aisle toward Groom, exchanges glances with another girl and….Boom. Do you believe in love at first sight?

Good performances by both girls (Piper Perabo and Lena Headey [imagine Keira Knightley with more meat on her]) and a really lovely performance by Matthew Goode (Rachel, don’t read that article, he mentions his girlfriend Sophie incessantly!!), who you can also see as the brother in Matchpoint. You’d want to have him as your new celebrity boyfriend, but sorry ladies, my cousin’s already claimed him.

Quite a sweet little film. Enjoyed it.