Jack Dishel & Regina Spektor to be on Tonight’s Carson Daly’s Last Call, Performing my favorite song ‘Call them Brothers’!! … I was there 3rd row, I saw the cameraman recording it and I asked him what it was for LOL as I thought Regina was making a DVD and was so excited and he told me it was for last call… I’ll be watching because I always catch the tail end of that show because my show comes on at 2 AM! Yay, can’t wait! It will bring me back to August 14, see I memorized the date ha ha you can find my video of it on my YouTube page  http://youtube.com/orphansailor

-Continued

So… we waited and then the lights went out & everybody cheered as Regina came out in a beautiful dress, lovely hair, lips full of red framing her mega watt smile that was big enough & sweet enough to fill the venue. It’s hard to ever be in a bad mood or not smile when Regina is around. Her smile in definitely contagious! Regina gave a truly inspired performance to a sold-out audience at L.A.’s Greek Theatre Regina has emerged as one of her generation’s most original & talented artists. Regina began w/her bluesy a cappella “Ain’t No Cover.” The soulfulness of her voice & some cool finger-tapping rhythms on the microphone made for a nice appetizer. Backed by drums, cello, and keyboard, she settled in at a black Steinway grand piano center stage & proceeded to enrapture. Regina has great range. Yet with all her smooth legitimacy, she’s unafraid to explore more playful & unusual vocal expressions. She beat boxes. She’s rhythmic. She moans & purrs. She sings in dialects & in other languages. And with every twist & turn, she brought the audience at the Greek deeper & deeper under her magical musical spell. Like always. Part of Regina’s charm is the contrast between her shy & humble persona when speaking & her commanding presence in her musical delivery. Regina coyly ad libbing a comment about squashing a bug that “made a bad decision”! So cute! I’m so pleased to see that Regina is talking more & interacting more w/her audience than in past shows I’ve been to. I could listen to her go on & on all day long to tell you the truth.

THIS WAS MY FAV, when Reg said this - “This is a magical forest filled with lots of really good people,” Regina told us, a delighted audience, nestled into Los Angeles’ Griffith Park. “That’s all you really need.”  ♥

Ranging from earthy to cosmic, intelligent to comical, mature to childlike, Regina’s lyrics never fail to evoke strong emotion. Painting us pictures with her voice, she immersed us in the haunting imagery of her beautiful songs (gifts). Mike Elizondo sat in for several songs on both electric & upright bass. The band was rounded out by Yoed Mir on cello & Brad Whitely on backing keyboards.

Regina played some of my most fav songs Apres Moi, Ode to Divorce, Oh Marcello, All the rowboats (of course), Blue Lips, Open, The Party (during this song I did cry when Regi got to the part where she sang “May I propose a little toast? For all the ones who hurt the most. For all the friends that we have lost. Let’s give them one more round of applause”, she stopped & looked at us and almost started crying herself when the entire audience gave a big round of appaluse for friends they lost while Regina stopped playing her paino, I was wiping tears) How, Small town moon, Patron Saint, Dance Anthem, and my very fav ‘Call them Brothers’. I wish she would have played some of her older & rare stuff, but I know how Set lists are for big cities like LA & NY. What is it about Regina? She’s so passionate, genuine, adorkable, no one else like her, quirky, real, it’s like she speaks for me. In a world where it’s easy to feel it’s all been done before, she has managed to create her own unique brand. I love her, LA loves her, I never heard such thundering applause, the crowd hoping she’d go on singing forever. Which she seemed to do, to me anyways. One song after another & they didn’t stop, she would surprise me & come out again! :) Nice. Just us cool people & a fucking Forest, as Regina put it :0) I’ve been to COUNTLESS concerts & I have to say this was THE BEST ONE EVER!! ♥ EVER. Her voice was like ooozzing perfection, bliss and all things heavenly. The crowd was GREAT!! Did I just say that? That I liked a crowd at a concert??!! You guys at THE GREEK were the best! So Cheers to the audience! Everyone was in a great mood. Only Son, Regina, the crowd and me! :) 

Before I forget to mention, I talked to some of the camera men there & asked them if this was going to be on a DVD? He pretended not to know & told me that it was for LAST CALL with Carson Daily. Then I kinda begged him & he smiled & told me “Maybe” & walked away. If so, I was all over that, dancing, etc.

Can we just talk about Regina’s skin for a minute or an hr? Her skin is like the falling snow in a really quiet peaceful place. My god! I’m not use to seeing Regina in big venues, I prefer the smaller ones, but this night at THE GREEK was so Magical and everybody is using that word to describe it, so it must be! :) The experience wouldn’t have been the same without sitting 4th row center, so close to catch every little moment! I have to thank the wonderful spektorologist for the wonderful gift of a free ticket he wanted to give me! Much love to you Vincent!! I guess it pays to have a Regina blog! ;p Thank You my fav follower, turned friend. xx. So… great show, great vibes and atmosphere, beautiful loving crowd, ran into some old “Tori Amos friends” was so nice! I got to talk to Regina again & other little treats! BEST NIGHT EVER.

After the show I walked out with everyone else who seemed to have been in a great mood (Regina’s music will do that to you!) & I casually walk over to the area I know the artists come in & out of. Memories! Waiting there under the trees for Tori Amos in 1998! Where I gave Tori my first poetry book & Tori touched my forehead & told me that we had Telepathy. Magical indeed. 14 years later, here I am waiting for Regina Spektor. I went over to where there were a few people standing, like 4, well, that 4 turned into 100, then after awhile dwindled down to about 25 after 2 1/2 hours! I met a handful of wonderful people Jen (who drove in from Arizona!), Rachel the dancer, Erika the adorable & Snoopy (who drove in from MEXICO!). We had fun talking the whole time & wondering & worrying if Regina would stop for us. We made friends w/little coyotes that came up wondering what the hell we were doing there. We watched on as Jack (Regi’s hubby) got in & out of his car, the crew leave & the bus leave. When Jack drove by he stopped in his car to say “Hi” & I walked up to him & handed him my letter I wrote Regina & I asked him “Can you give this to your beautiful wife?” The grin on his face, as he said “Yes, I will no problem” is something I’ll never forget, Whoa I can see why Regina fell in love with him! I told him how much I love “Call them Brothers” & that I always sing it. He drove away. I was tired, hungry, feet hurting & my hair went flat by then :( But I was bound to Regina. And for those who know me well, know that my middle name is persistence! I was going to be the last one there (& I was!) if it had to be! FINALLY Regina’s black SUV stops & her Aussie bodyguard or tour guy got out & said “Regina will sign, but no pictures”, something like that. I had to ask the girls what he said because I didn’t hear him. (I’m thinking, no picture my ass, I’m getting one!)

Regina got out & all the awe’s & compliments went flying. Smiles, siggys of posters & hugs. There were about 25-30 people by that time. There were 2 sides of the barricades. I was one of the first people standing there waiting & it looked like I’d be the last person she came to. I thought “figures”, fml. BUT NO, after thinking about it, it was perfect! I wasn’t even in the barricades because there was no room. So I stood there & patiently waited for her. She went pretty fast! & when Regina got to Snoopy Jen yelled out to Regina that he drove all the way from Mexico & he got a piccy w/Regi. I’m so happy for him! Only a few other people got their picture w/Reg & it went by fast. Jen & Rachel got theirs, Yay! I’m so glad they did too! Then Reg came to me & I hugged her & since my camera battery ( I can’t believe I forgot to mention this! My battery ran out of juice from recording so many Videos/Photos, I mean why not just 1 more picture, I couldn’t believe this!) Before Reg had came out I had asked Rachel and/or Jen if they would take the photo. They said They “got me”. :) So When I put my arm around Regina & her arm around me I whispered in her ear “My camera’s not working, just like the last time I met you”. She snickered. I yelled out “can someone take the picture”. Haha. So Rachel was sweet enough to do so. THANK YOU! Then I had Regina sign my Newspaper article that meant SO much to me, I’ve had it for years & years. I forgot to tell Reg the significance of that article!! For the first time ever it was that picture of her & the article that introduced me to Regina and NOT a Song, or a CD, not MUSIC, but a lovely photograph of a pretty Russian girl in my fav colour Green! The title read “From Russia with Whimsy”. I was hooked!

I told her that the show was great! Gave her another hug & told her that she was beautiful, she reached for both my hands as I proceeded to congratulate her on her Family’s 23rd anniversary of coming to America from Russia! She Thanked me while putting her hand on her heart. She had to run, but before she got back into the SUV, some people wanted piccys & she just didn’t have the time, so someone yelled “group photo”. All 25 of us ran together at the last minute & took a huge cute group photo. I was standing next to Reg. (I have yet to find this photo, but I will!) I hugged her goodbye again & everyone was sending her off just like Dorthy from my fav movie The Wizard of Oz! “Bye, Bye, Bye Regina” as she waved! It was wonderful! She is so genuine & one of a kind. I hope she remains this down-to-earth as her popularity rises & my little Indie secret becomes everybodies secret :( & the world falls in love with her! Love you Regina, until next time we meet! xx We did it girls, we all had a magical moment under the trees & stars, it was nice sharing that experience together, with you.

*Oh, I forgot to mention, some guy was sweet enough to give me his green backstage pass he was wearing, I only asked for it while he was walking by because I liked the sticker, it was green & I just wanted it for keepsake, BUT he wouldn’t give it up & I was thinking how strange, it’s only a fucking sticker? But then he comes back up to me like 10 minutes later & puts his hand on my shoulder & says “You’re not going to kill my Regina are you?” & I thought it was weird he was asking me this?! Haha. I just brushed it off as he was drunk. But as he handed me the stickers he said have fun back there” OMG, me being an absolute idiot I can get back there to talk to Regina! I thank him & power walked my ass up to the back door, this fat older venue guy chased after me, all out of breath! Shit I wasn’t walking that fast! He said I can’t go back there & a girl that works at the venue remembered me when I said “Goodbye, have a goodnight” on my way out & told him that it was alright for me to go. He insisted NO, but everyone was gone by that time anyhow. He was being a total dick & I told him to “Fuck himself” & left to another back door, but was too late, the little bitch wouldn’t let me in anyways. But these 2 girls said they saw Regi go upstairs. Whatever I thought, I’ll just go back where I was. And you know what asshole venue guy, it all worked out in the end. HA! And Thank God, The universe, Vincent, Rachel & all involved for a perfect night! I’m so glad that I went even tho I was broke, look how it all worked out! :0)

The most Special are the most Lonely. And I was the last one walking back to my car. Alone.

My video can be found here OrphanSailor

Thank You Sean for all your hard work on the beautiful photo above ^

August 14th was one of the best days of this year for me, besides seeing Marina & The Diamonds, seeing Fiona Apple, buying my new bed & new comforter (yes, this new bed has changed my life!)

It all started… like a dream. Waking up late, writing a letter to Regina, taking 3 hrs to decide what to eat, picking out what to wear, trying to do my hair which wasn’t behaving! Gathering everything to take but the kitchen sink & my OCD rechecking it over & over. I was going to the show totally broke, but a few bucks for food. I stopped for gas putting $20 in to get me there & back. Starving, I stopped by Arby’s & got a chicken salad sandwich & ate it as I drove the 45 minutes to Hollywood. I got stuck in traffic for like an hour! I was pissed. I wanted to be there at The Greek by 3 and I got there at 6! I blasted Regina the whole way, singing along to every word. I could feel it getting hotter as I drove, yuck! I finally get to my old stomping ground. I drove up the hill hoping to get close parking, but knew I didn’t have the $20 to park, nor would I pay that if I did! So, I drive down several streets, reading all the different confusing street signs. I didn’t wanna get towed, so I parked about a mile 1/2 away and start walking up the big hill, worrying like the worry wart I am! I don’t know why I worry so much when things seem to be on my side the last few shows. Everything has been going smoother than smooth. More than I would have imagined!

So, I get to the top of the hill to the beautiful Greek & sat on the first white bench that I see & waited for my new friend, a follower of my blog, for he wanted to gift me with a free tix! It pays to post on the event wall on FB! Wasn’t going to, but thought what the hell. I ended up getting a tix that way! I waited & waited & worried, using other people’s phones to call him since mine didn’t work up there between the trees. Not knowing really what he looks like, only from some online photos and visa versa, not knowing if I’d get in. Sitting on the next bench over was a girl in one of my fav colours, yellow. She looked like someone I might have known, so we kinda glanced at each other a few times :) I looked & watched on as people went into the venue, my worrying getting worse. I was talking to the girl next to me about applesauce when out of nowhere appears Vincent w/his boyfriend and I couldn’t be more happy!! He explained to me how his friend didn’t give him a tix, that she gave him money to get one instead! I was like “oh shit”, BUT, this is where all the good karma played a role. It was getting late & we hustled to the box office to get that tix, all fucking nervous we go to the end of the line, where some guy popped up & was selling PIT tix for only $30 each!!! Wtf?! I thought to myself, no way this can be happening. It was getting late & I guess he just wanted to get rid of them OR it was just meant to be, it was our lucky day. Loving Regina for so long, being hardcore fans, it was just perfect for us. !!!

Vincent bought 3 tix & gave the guy his 2 old tix! I was standing there like OMG! I was happy to see my tix was pretty green, my fav colour. We go into the farthest entrance & I told Vincent & his boyfriend that I’d meet up w/them later. I wanted to get a bottle of water & go to the bathroom. I took a look at the menu board, I was hungry, but the food was way too much, unreal! I stepped aside to delete all my Marina & Fiona videos off my memory card, not ever thinking I would get Pit, row 4! At last minute I stood there feverishly deleting video/photos off my camera so I could record Some Regina. That’s when I heard “Hey Raven”.  I looked up & it was one of my old Tori Amos friends Char! Her hands full of fries & beer she asked me how I been & we chatted for awhile. I told her that I liked the little campaign she had going on to get Tori Amos to play Phoenix, Arizona on 12/21/12. We discussed if Tori was going to play some USA dates or not. We talked as I deleted. It was a nice surprise to run into her at a Regina show, with a hug or 2 we walked in together, but I forgot to get my water & bathroom. I go back & get a $4 water & went to the restroom. I walked into the show while Only Son was just getting started. I love them btw. So, I did not want to miss them! Only Son is fronted by singer-songwriter-guitarist Jack Dishel. Jack is too cool & down to earth, funny as all hell & not to mention Regina’s husband (shhhhh)!

I sat down in my Pit DD, row 4, dead center seat in amazement! I have been blessed! Only Son did a really nice set, doing my fav “It’s a Boy”, (a clever, satirical take on life’s challenges). Dishel has a lot in common with Spektor, having also immigrated from Russia to New York as a child, and sharing her knack for unusual-yet-memorable hooks. Great set, great sense of humor, all around good vibe, feeling and the crowd was the best crowd I ever experienced at a concert!

The lights came back on as we waited & waited for Regina. I stayed sitting in my seat, looking around at the place & the screens to see who’s playing The Greek next & I saw David Burne & St. Vincent, The Monkees & my lovely Fiona Apple! Vincent & I were just shooting the breeze. I heard my name being yelled from the left, I look over & it’s my Tori Amos friends Danny, Crissy & Jaime! Yay! I just sat there in my seat waving at them. They were like Wtf & called me over there. I always run into Danny & Crissy every single concert I go to!! HAHA! I saw them both at the last Regina gig at The El Rey too. My friends have good taste in music what can I say? We all love our piano girls ;) After hugs & hi’s we chatted about how we all have been, etc. & how I recently found a piccy of Crissy & us on tour w/Tori in San Diego from like 12 yrs ago! Her shirt read “I’m 21 today, buy me a drink”! Ahhhh, it was SO GOOD to see them!!! I love running into old friends. Everybody looked great!

Go on to PART 2…