Ingrid Michaelson at Town Hall 12-18-08

Ingrid_Michaelson w Uke 12-18-08
Originally uploaded by OpenEye

So I'm starting the official 50showsat50 year six weeks before my 50th Birthday with this show. Whereever I can I'll post my own photos like this one.

I discovered Ingrid Michaelson just a couple of weeks ago. I'm a subscriber to RadioIO on the net, and kept hearing her and thinking "I like this." I bought "Be Ok" and within a day added "Girls and Boys."

Her Holiday Hop '08 was going to be the last show before she took a break from a year and a half of touring and I jumped on the last official tickets available. Ticketmaster's 'TicketsNow' premium seating. I paid a lot, but ended up front row center. Won't be able to go to a lot of shows buying tickets this way.

Ingrid is a great performer. Comfortable in her own skin and very entertaining even when she's not singing. She has assembled a great band whose playing and singing complement her voice perfectly. They are:

Allie Moss - Guitar/Vocals

Bess Rogers - Guitar

Chris Kuffner - Bass/Vocals

Elliot Jacobson - Drums

-Ingrid Michaelson's official site

- You can hear her for yourself. NPR and WXPN are streaming a show.

- Don't miss this nice review at Venuszine

Listen to "Breakable"

More photos from this show in my Flickr stream

Show #1

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Wilco / Neil Young at Madison Square Garden 12/15/08

Wilco 12/15/08Originally uploaded by muzikspy

I was already seriously considering this 50showsat50 idea when I decided to head into the city and see if I could pick up a ticket to see Wilco supporting Neil Young at Madison Square Garden.

I think Wilco is the best working rock band right now and I hate to know I missed one of their area shows. Even though I don't enjoy arena shows anymore, I really wanted to be there. And Neil Young was one of the artists of my youth that I had somehow managed to miss.

So I picked up somebody's extra and ended up in nosebleed seats surrounded by other Wilco fans.

Thanks to muzikspy for this nice photo of Jeff Tweedy that night (taken from where I SHOULD have been standing).

Listen to "Impossible Germany"

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The last two months...

Fall of 2008 has been a great time for shows.

Photos by Jennifer Pollock

It started with Ben Folds at Terminal 5 with the bonus of seeing Missy Higgins, someone whose name I had heard and meant to check out but hadn't. Then it was a pretty new NYC band School of Seven Bells. The following Friday I was back at Webster Hall to see the amazing Amanda Palmer (of the Dresden Dolls) with the usual entourage of artists she brings along. By the time I saw Grace Potter and the Nocturnals at Webster Hall, I was wondering if they sold season tickets...

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WTF...?

50 shows in a year, am I nuts?

I mean, it would be one thing if I still lived in Manhattan, but it's been twenty-six years since I moved to Westchester County. So the time commitment will be considerable.

And what will it cost? Having grown up in New York City I was raised as a driver. Around the city you mostly took mass transit, but in and out of the city? You drove. Couple that impulse with the late hours of some shows, and the MTA becomes less of an option. So gas, tolls and parking will add up. Tickets won't be so bad since most of the artists I like are playing the smaller, less expensive venues.

Well, okay, I probably am nuts. But what a wonderful set of symptoms! To have a built-in excuse to see great artists and new ones at one of the most exciting stages of their career. And who doesn't like blowing out of work early (to avoid traffic).

I'm not sure what form these posts will take or even if any of them will be worth reading. I'll bring some camera to every show. Whenever possible I'll bring my Canon 30D SLR, the fallback will be my Canon PowerShot SD700 IS point and shoot and the last resort is my iPhone. This may end up as more of a photoblog than anything else.

So I guess I'm going to do this. The blog is live; let the 50 shows begin.

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