Here is an article about Vanessa's performance.
Songstress plays for charityAs Vanessa Carlton warmed up on her piano, she could only laugh at the random comments yelled out from the audience - the most popular being "I love you, Vanessa" and "Will you marry me?"
Hundreds of students greeted the pop-rock singer-songwriter when she walked on stage for her concert in the Multipurpose Room of the Rutgers Student Center on the College Avenue campus Wednesday night.
Students, staff and relatives of both paid between $5-$7 for the benefit show, with all the proceeds going to The American Red Cross to help aid the earthquake and tsunami victims in Southeast Asia.
The 15-song show included tracks from her debut album 2002's "Be Not Nobody" and her sophomore album, last year's "Harmonium."
Carlton opened the show with "Papa," a song about feeling unloved by a parent or feeling that love is superficial.
Carlton also performed hits like "Ordinary Day," an uncensored version of "White Houses" and the song she said she will be playing for the rest of her life: her debut single, "A Thousand Miles."
Carlton said the show was "very much like 'VH1 Storytellers,' except without VH1." She told stories with each song and made light conversation with the audience.
"She's very down-to-earth and witty," said Douglass College junior Lisa Monroe.
Douglass College first-year student Crystal Myers said Carlton didn't seem like a celebrity.
"You wouldn't know she was famous," she said. "She acts like someone you would be sitting next to on the EE [bus]."
Students were also impressed with her style.
"Her hands are so graceful, they're like water," said Jodi Eisenbergh, a Rutgers College sophomore.
"She is such a wonderful dancer, and you can see her poise and grace through her playing," said Sara Kugel, a Rutgers College sophomore, who dances at the same school as Carlton.
Carlton - who composes her own music - is very grateful for the opportunities she has had thus far.
"I'm 24, and I don't have to waitress anymore," she told The Daily Targum after the show. "I'm doing something that I love."
Carlton said she wants to expand her experiences and is looking to score a movie, or even a Broadway show in the future. She is currently on tour for "Harmonium," and her next show in the area will be on March 15 at Irving Plaza in New York.
The show was sponsored by the Rutgers College Program Council.
http://www.dailytargum.com/news/2005/03/04/University/Songstress.Plays.For.Charity-885431.shtml
