Tonight was the final ebb of Christmas for me, funny to say I realise. However I had bought Bruce, Phil Nina and myself tickets to see the rather wonderful singer Regina Spektor.
After visiting the Academy on Friday to the Guillemots on Friday I found out that Regina Spektor gig had been moved from Academy 2 to the larger Academy Proper. This meant there were extra tickets available and as Jo expressed an interest in coming I invited him. He wanted to come so I ordered tickets for himself and girlfriend Holly. Collection was at the venue, it transpired that on arrival we found collection consisted of a man standing out side. The conversation went as thus "Hi I ordered some tickets in the name of Cooke", "John Cooke?" asked the man, I replied yes and he handed them over, no security check. Next time I am going to ask for Smith!
After picking up the extra tickets and a short queue, myself Phil Jo and Holly positioned ourselves near the front. Bruce Nina, Lindsey and Sarah joined us shortly afterwards. We were well positioned, only about 10 meters from the stage. There was rather a long pause before the support act Only Son came on stage.
Singer Only Son has supported Regina every time I have seen her. I think that his act is pretty good. I like the I-pod supporting band trick, and he has a couple of stand out songs.
I got very busy about this time and the temperature was started to rise. There were some weird people in the crowd too. For example there was a Chinese girl reading a book in the middle of the crowd, I couldn't see which book it was but she was totally engrossed at least until Regina came on. There was also a very annoying guy wearing a fedora hat guy, and a really weird backpack sporting dude.
Unfortunately I think the heat and bustle were a bit much for Holly, her diminutive stature made it hard for her to see as well. Part way through Only Son Jo had to take her home, he made it to Levenshulme and back but the idiot bouncers would not let him back in, it was a real shame as it was a much better gig than the one he attended at the Lowery (though still not as good as the first time I saw her at Academy 3).
There was quiet a gap in between Only Son and Regina, in fact I was starting to get very restless. When she finally made an appearance it was totally worth the rate, she delivered a consummate performance. Played a variety of songs from her albums a typical eclectic mix. Overall it was an amazing performance, my favourite songs were US, Sampson and better. I thought the Country song was pretty funny though not really album quality, she is definitely an artist to see live her music really comes to life the extra vocal tweaks she adds are playful and engaging.
After the gig we were on a high. We decided to go for a Curry at la Quila, I was not really that hungry so I shared a sizzler with Phil. Had a chat and pint, it was a nice end to the evening.
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