OK. First show and had to obligatorily make this thread because I've never had the chance to. I mean 12 years and the first time I see her live - I need to give my review.
Cost me 60$ each way via Lyft to get to the venue but it was totally worth it. I may never get to see Vanessa again (long story - Expat foreign student here) so totally worth it.
The setlist was:
1. Carousel
2. Fairwea.... Wait. My copy of the setlist says FWF but she played Tall Tales for Spring. Someone who was at this show correct me if I'm wrong.
3. White Houses
4. Take it Easy
5. Willows
6. 7 Swords
7. Operator
8. Blue Pool
9. Nothing Something
10. River
11. ATM (She actually calls it ATM on the setlist!)
12. Hear the Bells
13. Marching Line
My first time seeing her in person. Most fans often say that she looked beautiful but I never really understood what they meant until Sunday night. I was expecting some acoustic stuff with just her and Skye but I was completely blown away. Skye is doing some really amazing music ju-ju with his feet and a loop pedal and garage band on stage and it's insane. I always wondered why the Living Room sessions of HOSS was so unacoustic and more like it was tweaked but I think this is why. My favorite moment in the show was when she stopped and appreciated how the audience was actually listening to her and she mentioned how she couldn't even hear the clanging of cutlery which I think was really sweet of the crowd.
She did have a small signing session in the end. What was weird was that she mentioned it on stage? Like before the encore she mentioned that she would be at the merch table to sign stuff, which also resulted in a really huge crowd
. Buuuuut I had the pleasure of meeting Phil(pswik09) and Steve, who taught me the ropes on how to at least try and navigate the crowd when meeting Vanessa. We even waited afterwards to try and meet her after the show, which I only hope wasn't too creepy. And yeah... I actually had her sign my stuff which included the copies of my audio tapes of BnN and Harmonium, she reacted a bit and mentioned that Liberman will be available on audio cassette as a limited edition but I totally froze and wasn't able to say a thing when I met her. It didn't help that I hadn't eaten the whole day and had only consumed Rockstars (Yay! Gradschool). But anywho, it was absolutely fun meeting other NESSAholics. I think if you're ever making it to these shows, and if you think coming on here and talking about Vanessa stuff is such a release, meeting other NESSAholics and actually talking about her in person is... so relieving and the ability to actually be able to get along with other people with this same love for someone totally amazes me.
My Asian Lyft driver asked me why I was in Cleveland and if I also took a Lyft to get there. I kid you not, when I told him that the reason I was there was for a concert, he made me write down her name because he was so intrigued as to who she was that I would be willing to travel that far.
All in all, definitely a wonderful experience. Just wish I could've actually talked to her and not bottled up. In retrospect, I think it was the fact that I realized that saying something like: "I'm your biggest fan" wouldn't really justify how much I really love her and her music... I dunno. I'm rambling. I do hope I do get a chance to see her again before I graduate from school and also get to meet more of you!
