Like the wind in a canyon

Oh, god. What a weekend. It's taken me till today to realize what happened to me--and for that ache that happens when something is so awesome I can't handle it to come. I looked at the pictures I took in Vermont last night and nearly burst out crying. People. Brandi Carlile is so beautiful. And I was four people back from the stage. I've never been that close before. Also, I got a guitar pick. Oh yes. She kept throwing them, like, right at me, and I could not for the life of me get my hands on one, but when the show was over, I picked one up off the floor in front of my feet. Seriously. She was throwing them at me.

Anyway, I have a lot to say, and I'm not sure if I can get it out, but well, let's start with Boston. First of all, it was fucking hot in the Oprheum--no climate control whatsoever, and everyone was sweating, so of course, of course Brandi came out in that disgusting vest with nothing underneath it. And she was most likely not wearing a bra either. And even though I hate that vest, she looked, um, kind of hot (in the figurative sense, as well as the literal sense--everyone was literally lookin' hot that night)... However! I didn't really pay attention to that after a while, but it was fun to be able to see her total nerd tattoos in person.

Okay, so the Orpheum kind of sucks, and here is why: seats. And everyone wanted to sit down through the whole show, and some ass yelled at me for standing up, and I hate that! I totally remember that happening now, at the other concerts I'd been to there. It totally freaked Brandi out, too, playing in a setting like that, where everyone was just sitting quietly, waiting on her. She was much more comfortable last night, in the tiny club with people talking in between her songs. In between songs at the Orpheum, you could hear a pin drop, and it kind of freaked me out too.

But Brandi was great, natch, and the crowd was totally givin' her love, so much that it seemed to overwhelm her a little bit--but Boston always does that, to everyone. And one of the highlights of the night was the end of "Love Songs," which she sang as, "If I ever write a love song, Boston... I think I'll write it about you." Obviously, we all went ape shit for that. And she sounded fucking fantastic at the piano.

Now, before I get into the concert for real, I just need to say: no Red Sox talk whatsoever. She is a fake fan. Allison of A Fine Frenzy, the opener, was the one who mentioned the Red Sox, and she is from California--and has never pretended to be a Red Sox fan. Sigh. Of course, she didn't really say anything about being interested in the Red Sox, just that people in Boston had been complimenting her uber red hair, and she just thought she was lookin' rather nice that day until someone pointed out that the red hair makes her seem like a Sox fan. (Maybe Brandi pointed it out. That would make me feel better. But I should stop creating these fantasies for myself.) But I totally forgot about that until just now, because oh my god, it so doesn't even matter.

Okay, here we go: they opened the show with the ending harmonies from "Love Songs"--even Josh!--and then busted into "My Song," which was a fantastic way to get things going. I really love that song--and the ending harmonies in "Love Songs" are my favorite part of that song. Then it was "Wasted," and then my memory kind of loses track of the order of things, but whatever. It was all awesome.

Here are my most memorable moments: "How These Days Grow Long," obviously, which they managed to do unplugged even in the theater, and it was mind-blowing. I cannot even tell you how much I love that song, how much I love how Brandi and the twins come right up to the edge of the stage to sing it (it was even better in Vermont when I was even closer to the stage, but we'll get to that in a minute).

Phil was barefoot, which was awesome, and I tried to get a picture of his bare feet, but we'll see. I still haven't looked at all of them yet, because I took 280 of them. Whatever. I love Brandi and the twins.

I did Tim's "Turpentine" harmonies this time (last time I was in Brandi's section), and they were easier for me. For some reason, the Orpheum was kind of not havin' the audience participation thing, so we spent a while on the harmonies, and Brandi even had to sing, "I know you can sing it louder, Boston." That was a bit disappointing, but it was fun that she sang that, you know, in "Turpentine" time. But I still love doing that. Ben Folds does that. The Indigo Girls fans were much more game for the "Turpentine" harmonies than the fools at the Orpheum.

Every time I hear "Pride and Joy," I love it a million times more. And this time it was fantastic, all rocked out and amazing, and Josh got this kickass cello solo for the finale, which was just amazing. I totally love Josh now, too.

It was Gibb Droll's last show with the band for this tour, and he totally went out with an explosion. He shredded all night long on his guitars, and even played with his teeth during "Folsom Prison Blues" (I think. Christ, it was so crazy, I can't even remember what song it was). Brandi died; the audience lost their shit. It was fantastic.

One of my other favorite moments was when Brandi introduced "Closer to You" just by saying something like, "This is a song we wrote when we got signed" or something, and everyone cheered, and she was, like, "Aw, that's how I know my stories are getting old. When y'all know what song it is without my even saying anything remotely related to the song." It's cool, though; we just love that song, Brandi. And your stories. She told a good story about her family's music history and how, when the buzz about her started, her great-grandmother gave her her great-grandfather's fancy honky tonk guitar-thing (I am total musical instrument dunce)--but she can't play it, so Gibb did, for "Happy," and it was great.

During the encore, Brandi brought out her sister Tiffany to sing "Calling All Angels," and the crowd lost its mind, because oh y'all. Two Carliles for the price of one. I'd heard them do this before, because I have an mp3 of their performance in Seattle, but it was so great to see them sing together live. Tiffany's voice is, um, nothing like her sister's, really, but still awesome, and they sounded beautiful together. Except Tiffany seemed kind of nervous, but whatever. Rabid lesbians can be kind of scary. That was actually the performance of the night for me, I think--that was the song I was singing in my head as Jess and I waited for the T at Park Street.

Their fake last song, as always, was "The Story," and I noticed (with glee) that people started cheering in anticipation for her freakout at the final "all of these lines." I mean, that is the best part of the song. They did it in Vermont, too. I loved it. And I love that, when she first did it for the recording of the album, it was totally unintentional, and now it's the focal point of the song. She's amazing.

The only complaint I could possibly make (Somebody is playing "Tragedy" right now! Probably Brianna, with her Grey's Anatomy mix CDs) is that instead of "I Write These Words," they did "Goodbye, Yellow Brick Road" with A Fine Frenzy, which was lovely, yes, but I really wanted to hear "I Write These Words." Oh well.

During the encore, we were finally "allowed" to stand up, but when Brandi started to play "That Year," which is a sad, sad song, everyone sat down, and she kind of leaned over, like she was trying to see where everyone had gone, with this cute little smirk on her face, and I died. Beautiful.

She had us all singing along for "What Can I Say," and she and the twins let us take over for one of the choruses, which I always love for some reason, and I think the bands love it too, when the audience knows their song and wants to sing it out loud. Brandi definitely likes it.

At this show, I got a sweatshirt and a signed poster specifically for the show at the Orpheum. And what is she wearing in that poster? The vest.

And now, Vermont! Where some awesome fool totally yelled "Nice vest!" when she came out, and I couldn't help laughing. She wears that thing all the time--and I am not the only one who's noticed that--but this time she was wearing a long-sleeve button-up shirt under it, and it looked much better than it does with nothing or a t-shirt under it. Anyway! Enough with the vest.

So I dragged Mike all the way to Burlington on a Sunday, and we didn't get home until two this morning, and Vermont as a place was a total drag, but for the two hours we got to watch Brandi, it was all worth it. At least for me. He had fun, but he was totally exhausted when we got home. Hopefully, he lives through work today. Also, we were wicked close to the stage, so I kept, like, watching Brandi's eyes, and a few times, she seemed to be looking right at me, but then I realized she was totally looking at Mike and the stupid mohawk he had Josh shave into his head on Saturday night. And possibly trying to figure out if he was a girl. Two lesbians told him they totally loved his hair, and I think they were both surprised when he turned around, and they saw he was a dude. Heh, heh. I told him he looked like a lesbian when he did it on Saturday. But only from far away--and until he opens his mouth. I mean, there are some manly lesbos out there, but Mike definitely has boy voice.

Anyway, onto the show! They played mostly the same songs, except they did "Cannonball" instead of "Closer to You," which was fun, because the twins do some good Indigo Girls background vocals on that one. It was still more awesome to see her sing it live with the actual Indigo Girls, though. Even though I totally love the twins.

The boys in the band all had these ridiculous mustaches (except Tim for some reason), and Brandi lost her shit towards the end of "Wasted" when she saw Phil's mustache over his pursed lips, singing the "doot doot" part. She was laughing and could barely finish the song, and then when she did, she kind of dropped to the floor to try to compose herself. It was totally adorable. The mustache looked okay on Josh and the drummer (whose name I forget--Todd? Sorry, guy! You're a good drummer, but you're not Josh or a twin, and you didn't play the guitar with your teeth, so I forgot your name), but it looked retarded on Phil with his bald head. Good on Tim for staying away from the mustache. But Phil was barefoot again, so even with the mustache, I totally loved him.

Then, later, she introduced "Have You Ever" by saying that Phil wrote it, naked, and then she said, "I know you don't want to picture him that way right now, but he's very handsome" or something, and she winked at him. Then she said, "He looks a little bit like he'd hurt puppies right now [with the mustache] or something," and he tried to be offended, but he cracked up. I like how they tease each other--like Mike and I do.

While I'm speaking of the mustaches, I'll tell this story totally out of order, but whatever. When Allison and her boys of A Fine Frenzy came out for "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road," she said something to Brandi about her hair looking really nice, and Brandi said Tiffany fixed it, and then Allison turned to the crowd and said, "Doesn't she look pretty?" and like, hello, the lesbians totally agreed. Brandi told her she looked pretty her own self, and then some lesbian yelled, "So does Phil!" That was fab. Phil was like, "Call off your dogs, Carlile--stop picking on me," but he loved it.

Here's a thing I discovered that I love: Brandi sings while she adjusts her mic stand and tunes her guitars in between songs. She did that last night, anyway, and I imagine she does it usually, but I've never been close enough to hear it. She sang a bit of "What Can I Say" and "Bohemian Rhapsody," and I just ate it up. She also did that thing where she sings when it's not her turn, just with her face away from the mic, and I could hear it this time because I was so close. I love that about her. Love it.

Speaking of "Bohemian Rhapsody" she played it last night as her intro to "Love Songs," and I almost tried to get it on video, but I decided I'd rather sing along instead. Worth it. It was so fun, and "Love Songs" sounded really good, and oh, lord, I just love her.

Tiffany was back again, and I think the crowd in Vermont went even crazier for her than the Boston crowd did, but she looked much less uncomfortable. After their song, Brandi said her sister puts her to shame, and then she said her brother, too, is an unbelievable singer, and, like, I believe the Carliles are a very musical family, and I am sure Jay (I think that's what she said his name was) has a lovely voice, but come on, Brandi. I don't think she knows how fucking powerful her voice is. It's killer. But then if she did know, she wouldn't really be Brandi. Anyway, the point of that lead-in was that someone then asked where he was, and she said he was at home with his new baby. And then Aunt Brandi totally started gushing, "Her name's Caroline, and she is so cute," and everyone awwed, and it was sweet. She claimed she was making a lullaby CD for her niece, said she put "Have You Ever" on it, and she's working on "Hush, Little Baby," and then she sang a bit of it, all countryfried and Brandi'd, and I totally loved it. The other lesbians did, too, I'm sure. I don't know if that lullaby CD thing is for truth, but I would totally buy it. And maybe play it for Jacob. (Oh! I have a new cousin, Jacob Tanner [last name omitted--it's not the same as mine]. We'll talk about him later. Maybe when I finally meet him.)

Oh, so "How These Days Grow Long" is even better when you're right up in front of the stage, and Brandi and Tim can totally see you lip-syncing along. Um, maybe. They could have, anyway, if they had looked (and I feel like Tim, at least, did see me...maybe), because I love that song, and I could not help myself. Plus, they came right up to the edge of the stage, of course, and I could see even better just how pretty this girl is--but also that she was totally wearing make-up. Whatever, it wasn't anything overdone, and it suited her, and whatever, again. I'll just tell myself Tiffany did it.

When they did "The Story," the Vermont people went so crazy that Brandi just stopped and let us take over for one of the "I was made for you"s--the first one, I think. This crowd was much better at the audience participation thing. She also made sure she got everyone clapping along for "Folsom Prison," which she did in Boston, too, and I just loved watching her stalk the stage and look out over the crowd, to make sure everyone had her hands going. She's such fun to watch.

The only thing that bugged about this show was how shoved together everyone got, so I couldn't get any decent pictures of Tim or Josh. But I have a few good ones of my main man Phil--and quite a few of that girl who sings with them, so can't complain too much.

Also, I got a guitar pick. Boo-yah.