Hey, it's not the middle of nowhere! I was so happy that we finally got Vanessa to come to the Midwest because she so rarely comes to this part of the country. You coast people get her all the time!
Okay, so we were supposed to arrive by 1:45pm for a 2:30pm concert but they didn't even let us in until around 3pm. Then we waited until about 3:25pm before Vanessa came out. Apparently, her flight in Denver got cancelled and she was stuck there for like 5 hours. She was supposed to arrive last night but didn't get to Des Moines until today.
Vanessa peformed 6 songs... twice. She sang OD, ATM, White Houses, HoM, Who's To Say and Home. The first time she sang them, she told short stories for each. The second time, she really didn't tell stories because this time through it was mainly for different camera angles.
OD - She talked about how she wrote it in C Major and that she wrote it with a high note in it (High C) so that it's a good vocal challenge for her to sing it. She said that she started singing by "default" because she didn't know who else would sing her songs while she was playing them. It was a cute story.
ATM - She just talked about the "hook" and how she sat with the hook for about a year before her producer (Ron?) told her she had to write a song for it. So, she sat down one Saturday night and forced herself to write it.
White Houses - She didn't say much except that the song is about the time in your life when everything is "dirty," ages 16-24.
HoM - She just said that it's her second single from H&T and that the song (lyrics) is self explanatory.
Who's To Say - Vanessa said this is one of her favorite songs and then she said her standard "This is for those that are in relationships that aren't approved of by either your mother or the government."
Home - She said that it is one of her favorite songs on H&T.
It was just an amazing experience and worth driving 2 hours (each way!) to see. She wasn't as chatty as I'm used to seeing her. But she did a phenomenal job. I just... Vanessa is just brilliant.
OH! And Victor was there! He fell asleep while she was playing and she joked about how she must not be doing that well because he was alseep. It was great. Vanessa had to stay and do 2 hours of interviews so I didn't get to meet her for the second time.
Apparently, she is doing a show tomorrow night in Des Moines too, which I had NO idea about. I'm a little bummed because I'm not sure I can make it there AGAIN.
Overall, a wonderful time.
