
So, HUGE bummer two weeks ago (almost on par with Sunday’s humiliating Redskins loss at the hands of the Titans) when I got all pumped to see Regina Spektor for the second time this year at DC’s 9:30 Club, only to get there to find it sold out. You see, I had no money on my credit card (and no way to get money on it at short notice since there isn’t a JP Morgan branch in Charlottesville), so I couldn’t get a ticket in advance, and since it wasn’t sold out when I left I figured as long as I got there by doors I had a pretty decent chance of getting a ticket, even if I had to get it from a scalper outside. Also, it was my mom’s birthday the next day so I figured I’d bring her present up with me and surprise her if I couldn’t get into the show. With the always-lovely Jia Tolentino as my co-pilot we made record-setting time on the first half of the commute, but ran into standstill traffic just 10 miles outside of DC, in which we stagnated for two hours before finally making it to the venue as she was taking the stage, and suffice it to say, the show was sold out and I was too late to even get any scalper loving. Fortunately, Jia had a ticket and was able to meet up with her other friends inside and enjoy the show. I was able to persuade her to do a brief recap of the evening’s events, which you’ll find below. For once you get to read a review on here that’s concise, to the point and not ridiculously long-winded; rejoice!
“Watching Regina Spektor is like playing with a kitten - a musically brilliant, adorable kitten. After every song of her October 3rd performance at the 9:30 Club, Spektor sort of nuzzled herself and smiled winsomely, immediately leading the crowd to yell “I love you!” and “You’re so fucking cute!” and “Hey, play Samson!” (which she did, eventually.) Playing with a bassist, guitarist, and faux-hawked drummer who all contributed back-up vocals, Spektor’s set was unusually lively, upping the ante notably on “That Time,” “On the Radio,” and “Sailor Song.” Her encore, which was just her solo at the keyboard, turned into a fittingly adorable sing-along when she urged the sold-out house to sing with an enthusiastic “Come on, people!” Spektor sang “Us,” “Ghost of Corporate Future,” “Fidelity,” “Samson,” and brought the band back on for her last song, which I can’t remember because - to be perfectly honest - I was high. I feel like she’d be cool with that, though. I’m still convinced she wrote “Ghost of Corporate Future” on shrooms.”
Yeah, that sounds good and all, but I got to do something nice for my mom, which I don’t really do nearly enough (unless of course throwing parties at your parents’ respective houses and getting caught on a regular basis is now considered doing something nice for your parents, I’ve been slacking in that department). One of the casualties of that June hiatus I went on was that I didn’t get to review the secret Regina Spektor show I attended at the Oren-Santz church, the oldest (and most beautiful) church in Manhattan. The incredible venue yielded one of the most amazing and unique concert experiences of my life. Unlike her 9:30 Club show, Regina played solo, alone at her piano in front of the 50 or so awestruck concetgoers in attendance, and the natural acoustics of the venue were just unbelievable. Suffice it to say, it was majestic as shit. Loose Record was at the same show and wrote up a nice review, but if even if you’re not big on words (in which case I have no idea how you made it this far), you should definitely make sure to check out their stunning pictures of the show to get an idea just how unbelievable the scene was. Aside from the sheery beauty of the venue, another awesome factor was the open bar, and since I guess they assumed everyone in attendance was over 21, things worked out quite nicely for me in that regard. I’d just picked up her new album at the time, Begin To Hope, which Everett and I were both obsessed with (documented here in Evro’s artist profile of Regina) and pretty much still are, so all of the new songs were an obvious highlight, as well as her incredible solo rendition of “Us” and a song I hadn’t heard before, which I’ve since come to discover is called “Baby Jesus”. Unavailable on any album, the song sees Regina at her most playful and showing off her most whimsical vocal acrobatics ever. Fortunately, I was able to track down an extremely high quality recording of Regina Spektor’s 2005 show at the Cabaret Voltaire in Edinburgh, Scotland, which features Amanda Palmer of the Dresden Dolls (for whom Regina was opening at the show) on “Uh-Merica”. It’s a fairly pristine recording, and Regina performs solo just as I saw her in NYC this summer, so it’s an added bonus that you get to here their songs in their most intimate and stripped-down versions.
SOUND QUALITY: B+

Regina Spektor, Live @ The Cabaret Voltaire: DOWNLOAD .ZIP [follow link]
01. “Talking Intro”
02. “8 Miles High”
03. “Pound of Flesh/Ezra Pound”
04. “Sailor Song”
05. “The Flowers”
06. “In Another Town”
07. “Dance Anthem of the 80s”
08. “Names and Faces”
09. “That Time”
10. “Mermaid”
11. “Apres Moi”
12. “On the Radio”
13. “Poor Little Rich Boy”
14. “Carbon Monoxide”
15. “Consequence of Sound”
16. “Fidelity”
17. “UH-Merica” (w/ Amanda Palmer)
18. “Samson”
19. “Us”
20. “Baby Jesus” ((highly recommended))
You can grab some more Regina mp3s by checking out Everett’s profile of her from last May here, or hit up the Hype Machine for more. Below is “Us”, my favorite Regina track, as well as a surprisingly excellent remix of the song courtesy of mc DJ of Illin’ Noise fame, with “That Time”, my new favorite track on Begin To Hope, just thrown in for good measure. As one final bonus I’m also reposting below Regina’s 2003 b-side collaboration with the Strokes, originally posted in Everett’s artist profile and titled “Modern Girls And Old Fashioned Men”.
MP3s:
“Us” - Regina Spektor ((highly recommended))
“Us” (mc DJ Remix) - Regina Spektor
“That Time” - Regina Spektor ((highly recommended))
“Modern Girls And Old Fashioned Men” (ft. Regina Spektor) - The Strokes
Shit, I really can’t get enough of this girl… here’s “Samson” as well. “Samson” was originally featured on Regina’s Songs album, but has been reprised on Begin To Hope because it’s just so amazing. With glossier production and the classy addition of strings, the new version doesn’t differ greatly from the original out side of these touches and some altered lyrics, but it’s still the best song Regina’s ever written and will benefit from the exposure gained by its inclusion on Hope, as otherwise it might remain forever buried in obscurity on her much lesser-known Songs.
Bonus MP3: “Samson” - Regina Spektor ((highly recommended))