Ingrid, William and the Utah Hotel

Ok, I admit it... I am a total "Grey's Anatomy" junkie. Have been since episode one, season one. Cant get enough of it... Buy the seasons as soon as they come out on dvd. Save certain episodes on my tivo... I still have the season finale from season 3... and yeah, I've watched it more than a handful of times. One of the reasons I love this show so much, aside from the fantastically witty and catty Sandrah Oh, is because they always have the best music that is just about to break into the mainstream. Artists that you haven't ever heard of, but that obviously have quite a bit of talent. I am all about these people. I know I have a weird taste when it comes to music...

In my twenties I was all about the pop music. I don't mean pop like Shitney Beers (Britany) or Sluttina Imawhore-a (Christina), nor do I mean the Backdoor Boys or N'Stink. I'm mean actual musicians that use their instruments instead of dance moves to make their music. I never really had much respect for musicians that couldn't make music without a producer. I'm talking about bands like Matchbox 20, Third Eye Blind, Cyndi Lauper, Elton John... you know that kind of pop music.

My parents were both musicians. And hippies. So I was raised with the singer songwriters of the 60's and 70's. That was the era, as my dad so consistently points out, when men were men... and rock and roll was rock and roll. As much as I hate to admit this (and I will never hear the end of it the next time I talk to him), he is right. Those people really knew how to make some amazing music. It was before the time of the single and the industry drive for a top 10 hit. It was a time when people made music to say something, when they made an album an event, and when artists took the time to create concept albums that took a story and stretched it over all the songs.

I will go into my diatribe about concept albums later.. but this post is about the Ingrid, William and the Utah Hotel, so lets get on with it shall we.

My roommate Travis is as obsessed with Grey's as I am, if not more. He actually goes to the computer while watching it to see who is singing in the background. Well when we watched the season finale he fell in love with the girl that sang the closing song. I liked the song and thought that she had some talent. He told me that she was coming to SF in a couple weeks and invited me to go with him. The ticket was only $10 so I said hell yeah!

Neither of us had ever been inside the Utah Hotel before so we didn't know what kind of venue it was or how many seats there were. We got there a bit early and went inside. Hmmm... how do I put this delicately? Easily the shittiest venue I have ever been in, ever. So, I am guessing they had somewhere in the vicinity of 15 good seats. And even though we got there early, all the good seats were already taken. When I say good seats, what I mean is benches against a wall with a table. Not even any seat cushions. Travis and I ended up sitting on cold concrete stairs in the emergency exit, with a cold breeze blowing in from the gap at the bottom of the door and blowing straight down my fuckin butt-crack. Yeah, shitty.

The venue itself had room for about fifty people... if they took all the tables out. There was a balcony where you could fit another ten or fifteen people that was literally about 7 feet high. So yeah... I had to duck at a couple places. The cherry on the top were the beams. They had about four beams supporting the balcony RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROOM!!! Seriously??? They blocked pretty much every seat from a full view of the stage. They even turned the front beam, the one closest to the stage, into a bench. It would take someone I really really really want to see to make me go back into that venue.

Now... thats about enough bitching about the venue... Lets talk about Ingrid and William. No, they are not in the same band. She was on first and he followed. Both were very good. Ingrid Michaelson started her set off with a great song called "Die Alone". I liked it then, but since then I have had the cd on and I cant stop listening to that song... the lyrics are really poingniant to me right now. Lyrics like: I never thought I could love anyone but myself / Now I know I can love anyone... but you. / But you... make me think that maybe I won't die alone / Maybe I won't die alone.

She is going places I am telling you now. I don't know if she will become a household name, but she has me buying her next album. When she was done... the only good thing about the venue presented itself. She had nowhere to go but into the audience. It was great, I chatted with her, she signed my cd. When William Fitzsimmons took the stage I cleared Ingrid a seat right next to me and she sat there until she had to run up and sing back-up. It was cool, it made it much more personal. Like a group of friends getting together at a local bar to show each other what they can do.

Now William, he is a master with his composition. His music even without lyrics is beautiful and inspirational. His lyrics are personal and at times quite touching, and while he has a sweet tenor voice... I felt that he hadn't quite found his voice yet. There were moments in his songs where there were these sweeping crescendo's and his voice just didn't rise to the occasion. I wanted to see him express more emotion with his voice, not just with his lyrics. I mean here he was singing a song called "You broke my heart" and I hear the pain in the words, but the voice is just that sweet tenor that had nowhere to go. I am going to keep an eye on him because he is very talented, I will give him one more chance on another CD. But I want to hear him break loose of that one voice. The album "Goodnight" is fantastic background music. It makes me smile when I am not paying attention.

So... hmmm... let me see if I can find a nice poetic way to wrap this whole experience up... hmmm.... yeah. Ok here it is: Buy Ingrid's album "Boys and Girls" you wont regret it. Download William's album from iTunes, put it on in the background and do something else. And for christ's sweet sake... unless you want the musician in your lap... avoid going to shows at the Hotel Utah!!!

Thanks for a great and unique time Travis. I'm out!