Brandi Carlile

At the Cleveland House of Blues, I saw Brandi Carlile perform for the first time last night, and it was really, really great. Aaron, who is not a huge fan of the singer-songwriter genre I adore, even said, "That was solid."

Source: Brandi Carlile's Facebook page

I heard someone comment that she played a lot from her new album, and I thought it was funny because I didn't notice. She played a lot of songs I wanted to hear - Turpentine, That Wasn't Me, The Story, That Year, etc. - and the only song I can really think of that I really wanted to hear that she didn't play was Wasted (oh, and Cannonball and Losing Heart - okay, there's a ton that I would have loved to hear too). Doesn't matter - she was fantastic. She could have played longer, and I would have been thrilled.

And she did Bohemian Rhapsody, which was pretty fun.

I guess I've been listening to newly acquired albums - Brandi, Fiona, Alabama Shakes, Jack White - almost exclusively so it shouldn't be a surprise that I knew so many of the new songs.

What I liked about Brandi is how clearly she was enjoying herself. She's been with the guitar player and the bass player - "the twins" - for at least a decade (allegedly back in 2002, she said to them, "If you start a band with me, I'll get us signed and on the road in a year." She wasn't lying.). The band seemed cohesive, and she seemed to enjoy interacting with the fans.

I don't know if you can see this, but a friend posted this video from last night's show. SO. GOOD.

The only thing that was weird is that there was nearly a fight, well, TWO fights toward the end of the show. Who fights at Brandi Carlile?

Thanks so much to Anslee for turning me onto Brandi!