See Jane sing

After a LOOOOOOOONG weekend (in a bad way -- we had my family here again and Andrew and I both got sick and got basically no sleep Saturday night), we decided to be impulsive and go to the Jane Monheit concert tonight at the Capitol Theater downtown.

I know what you're thinking: Geez, Lindsay! You guys go to a lot of concerts! And you would be right. BUT here is how I justify it. We only ever go to concerts by people we know and love, because let's face it -- there is nothing worse than paying a lot of money to sit with a bunch of loud, obnoxious people and hear loud music you hate. I feel good about paying the money to support artists that I love and hearing them live. There's nothing quite like the atmosphere of a concert, especially one where you know all the songs and can sing along. You just feel a connection to the singer.

Actually, I don't know why I feel like justifying this. Anyone who knows me knows how much I love music, and going to concerts makes me feel happy and alive -- and I keep that feeling for weeks afterward. :)

Anyway, we also had an Art Tix gift certificate I had won at work around Christmastime, so the tickets only cost us a whopping $16. WOOOOOO! The concert was well worth the money, too. The only word for it is lovely. Seriously. I love all types of jazz, but this lady can switch from Judy Garland to Ella Fitzgerald to a soft, Jewel-like quality like nobody's business. We sat in the concert in awe of her beautiful voice and her easy manner. She joked about singing a duet with Michael Buble before he was famous and how it would be impossible for her to sing with him now (which I doubt -- she could sing a Dr. Seuss book and make it sound good), and she was completely poised even when the piano had major issues at the end of the concert and ruined part of a song. She embodied grace. I wish I could say that.

Which is why I paid the 20 bucks for a CD (even though I HATE how bands mark up CDs at concerts and was even complaining to Andrew in the car about the ridiculous ticket fees that venues charge for no reason) and stood in line to meet Jane Monheit and have her sign her name on a CD that I will probably never look at again (I'm a product of the iPod world -- what can I say). She was that wonderful.