live wongie: duffy / adele (3/17)

i swear it felt like my birthday came early, when i managed to get into both the duffy and adele showcase last monday (thank you akemi and erica!)

sold out way in advance, it was a real shame that both of these talents were on at the same night because inevitably you had to compare the two back to back.

first up was the lovely duffy performing with a full band at the hiro ballroom.

with her album rockferry due for a major US release in may, a larger percentage of attendees were fans familiar with her current UK success AND a contigent of high powered label folks (the amount of escalades at the entrance gave it away) that wanted to see how she does in front of a packed crowd.

dressed in a simple black dress, the songstress gave a polished performance that showcased her dynamic northern soul vocals, making every highlight from the album even better live. purring her love of new york city, the crowd just ate it up.

check out her opening song rockferry performed live here (warning BAD camerawork and crappy audio. but even then the lady performs perfectly)

or if you can't deal with shoddy framing, here is an idea of her performance through bbc radio 2's music club:

duffy - serious (live @ radio 2 - music club) [link 2]

after 7 songs, i hopped out of the club and crossed town to joe's pub to check out adele.






different in vocal style, but like duffy, firmly appreciative of their soul/jazz musical influences, adele showed up on stage, apologised for having a bad cold and then went on to rip through a setlist of songs predominantly acoustic (if this is what a 'cold' voice sounds like, imagine a healthy fully functional one!)

happily cackling when she caught herself saying silly things, adele gave proper introductions before each song, explaining that she likes to do acoustic tours first because then people can appreciate the songs more when they hear the fully orchestrated album (which she announced will be released through columbia records in the US!).

check out her gorgeous redition of bob dylans "to make you feel my love" below!

adele - to make you feel my love (live @ joe's pub)[link 2]

so which performance did i end up enjoying more? to be fair, i didn't finish duffy's full set, but i think deep down i'm more on camp adele only cause i like the 'realness' she projected (heck, she said f**k a few times when she felt silly). both deserve massive love stateside and i can't wait to see them again in the coming months.

but what a night!

live wongie: courtney love @ hiro ballroom

there's nothing like a good ol free show to hype up your highly anticipated upcoming album nobody's daughter. well last night, courtney love rocked the hiro ballroom down with a late night showcase of new tunes mixed in with classics.

though courtney didn't hit anyone with a mic stand, she did offer up verbal gems like:
"SHUT UP! I can't hear my guitar!"
"Relax honey. I'm like Springsteen; I can go all night...so chill out."

i was going to line up with the other thousand rabid fans, but in the end, i chickened out and in retrospect should have just braved the crowds to see the rock diva do her thing.

[thanks to fresh bread for the photo]

luckily new friend, and possible future contributor (please! ;), michael a. grammar was there to report on the evening:

"In what was certainly her 1,982nd comeback (or was it 1,983rd?), Courtney Love showed the Misshapes crowd what she was all about at the Hiro Ballroom last night. Thankfully, not literally -- unlike previous shows, she was actually wearing panties. First, in a clingy, sleeveless dress that showed off freaklishly bony Nicole Richie arms, and later in a Marc Jacobs onesie that made her look like an extra from the "Moulin Rouge" Lady Marmalade video. Overall, she looked like a cross between Donnatella Versace and Amanda Lepore, with the mascara-drenched eyes of a zombie raccoon. Long story short: the Courtney we know and love was back in full force.

She opened with a new song called "Samanta," a hard-rocking cautionary tale so obviously meant to invoke Stevie Nicks that Courtney even started singing a few bars of "Rhiannon" a bit later. But Stevie was never hardcore enough to write a song called "Stand Up Motherfucker." Courtney practically ripped the girl pants off the Misshapes boys with that one, just three songs in to the set.

But the young fans who knew her from her late-90s makeover weren't disappointed, either -- she begrudgingly played "Malibu" ("I fuckin' hate playing that song") and, later, "Celebrity Skin" ("You have to wait for the chestnuts," she chided), and totally killed with two singles from "Live Through This." The closest anyone came to bumrushing the stage was during "Miss World," when a barricade of five security guards had to step in to keep the crowd at bay.

Anyone hoping to see Courtney bash someone in the head with her mic stand was sorely disappointed, but in terms of a return-to-form, this was as close as she could come. Between the mid-song cigarette breaks (too many to count), the repeated shoutings of "Shut up!" and "Fuck you!" (as well as one, "Shh! This song has dynamics"), it's good to know some things never change."

damn, now i wish i went!

here's one of the classics that she performed last night
hole - miss world [link 2]
[thanks to fabulous jason for the photo]


want more love?
courtney love with noel fielding (the mighty boosh)
at the backstage of her london performance at bush hall july 9th.