When I bought my ticket for Regina Spektor at the Radio City Music Hall I thought it was just some venue in NYC, but I'd been slowly realising that it is in fact a tourist attraction in its own right. It truly took my breath away to just walk into the foyer, but the auditorium is even more stunningly beautiful.
The scale of it really does not come across in photos.
My seat was almost right at the back but I made friends with John and Isabella who were sitting in the last row (Pavement fans! We talked about Christmas and SNL). They were moved forward because they were in the way of a camera, and I managed to sneak up to row TT, a pretty good seat! Except for the couple next to me who kept snogging, but I forgive them, it was very romantic.
Regina's parents walked past me and talked to some manager guy for a bit, they look quite a bit like her and seemed very excited. Last nights concert was definitely *the* Regina Spektor homecoming concert - she has really made it now, all her friends and family were there, and she looked so happy.
What can I say about the concert except that it was magical in every way? The set list has been posted elsewhere, but it went like this:
The Calculation
Eet
Folding Chair
Ode to Divorce
Machine
Laughing With
One More Time with Feeling
Two Birds
Blue Lips
On the Radio
The Call
Dance Anthem of the 80s
Silly Eye Color Generalizations
Bobbing for Apples
That Time
Après Moi
Poor Little Rich Boy
Ink Stains
Human of the Year
Man of a Thousand Faces
Samson
Us
Fidelity
Hotel Song
Love, You're a Whore
The set was simple with only two giant disco balls that bathed the auditorium in stars during the encore, and some nice lighting for songs like Laughing With:
For "the little country song" at the end, I ran down the aisle and danced my little socks off.
Headed straight to the party afterwards where it turned out that there was an open bar! I felt a bit like a lemon on my own at first but that was soon rectified by free White Russians and dancing (they played Connection by Elastica, just as I thought things couldn't get any better!). I vaguely remember giving someone one of my unusual horse postcards, so if they end up here: Hello! I got talking to a Psychiatrist from Long Island with personal space issues, and a guy called Howard who was apparently part of Reginas entourage (which I totally didn't get, I kept asking him how he managed to get into the backstage party and what his Brümstix screen name was), and it was a little while until I realised that Regina had in fact arrived. Her dad helped me find my earring and I think I told her mum that she had done a good job with Regina (oh dear). Everyone was crowding around her so I decided to wait my turn and be polite, which was apparently the wrong strategy. As she was heading outside, she complimented me on my dress and said she had a moustache necklace too, I took a picture of her with some guy with his camera, and then she was suddenly outside and security wouldn't let me through. I was so shocked I started to cry, which I know is pathetic but then I had had quite a lot to drink by then, and went down the route of begging ("I came all the way from England, please please please"), and finally got this photo.
Mission accomplished. Now, time for a hangover breakfast.
