Sixty Years On

Brandi Carlile, last night, Mercury Lounge in Manhattan, small venue, no smoking, clean music= $12. Being able to stay out past my bedtime on a school night= Priceless.

There are people who go to concerts as if they are flipping on a favorite TV show-one after another after another-a couple times a week. This is one form of pastime that I had snubbed and scoffed at because it was expensive and I'm not that type of girl. However I'm thinking those frequent concert-goers had discovered something wonderful and now I should tap into it.

After last night's exciting and mysteriously unusual performance by Brandi Carlile-who walks onto the stage a petite, shy, and presumably quiet figure but soon eases into her cover of one of Elton John's earliest "Sixty Years On" and takes off belting self-composed lyrics into the mic... I realized that I have become an avid fan of her music ... more than the mediocre inkling of admiration I generally have after a concert.

And while I'm not going to consider a career of "Frequent Concert Goer" (FCG, certified), I will consider the Mercury Lounge the best venue and Brandi Carlile the best show I've seen to date.

Check her out, if you haven't already; go to her concert if she's playing in town...she's worth the lost sleep.