Last night my friend Alison and I went on our first of three lady dates this week to see Regina Spektor in concert at The Lyric in Baltimore (we’re also seeing Enemy of the People at Centerstage tonight and Wicked at the Hippodrome on Sunday). The music was great, but it definitely doesn’t come anywhere near my list of excellent concerts. By now you should know that one of the things I value in a concert is a musician or band to really engage with the audience. How that plays out can come in a variety of forms, but I like to feel like I’m getting something out of the concert that I wouldn’t get just sitting at home listening to the CDs. In the case of this concert the only thing I got was some cool light effects and having to listen to obnoxious concert shouters trying to outdo each other (You know, the obnoxious people constantly shouting out I love you and various songs they want played. Dude, there’s a set list. You shouting out songs isn’t going to change that). Really the only time Regina Spektor said anything to the audience was to say thank you to the applause after each song. Her brief moment of engagement came during some technical problems when she invited the lead singer of the opening band back out to sing a song with her. She did vamp a little while it was being sorted out, but that was short and something I suspect wouldn’t have happened if there were no problems with the equipment. As I said, the music was wonderful, but essentially I want more out of a concert. I’m glad  I went, but there are tons of bands I would pay to see in concert every time they came anywhere near me and based on last night Regina Spektor is not one of them.

This is one my favorite songs that she played last night. All the Rowboats is the first single off her new album. I just love the dramatic undertones in the music of this song. They did some pretty cool (though sometimes blinding) stuff with lights when she played it last night.