Samara Joy at the Blue Note

The cough is improving, happily, and after a couple of days away from the library (and A LOT of sleep during that time), I'm feeling better.  Yay!  I'm writing this on Thursday evening (posting it on Friday), back from dinner and a show over in Hollywood, heading in to work in the AM.

A little over three years ago, the three of us went to see Samara Joy at a concert in Palm Springs during Modernism Week.  She was fresh off winning the Grammy for best new artist, and she was young and fresh and giddy with the win.  Backed by a trio, she gave a show that was utterly joyful and very loose.  We loved it.

Van bought tickets for us to see her at the Blue Note a while back.  And then his travel plans changed and he ended up in Maui.  Sad life of good things, I know.  Conrad and I ended up at the show without him.  Back at his place now, changed out of our glad rags,

Olive fed, I can share what I thought.  Here's some of what I wrote to Van:

So the show was a little over an hour.  Started at 7:00 promptly.  No photos allowed.  At 7:48 she said two songs to go.  Those two songs were twenty minutes.  She have a lot of room for her own improvisation and her band’s.  Fewer songs, but some excellent musicianship.  Her voice was superb.  She hit a few high notes that were so satisfying.  In Palm Springs she was like a girl who was riding the high of her Grammy wins, but tonight she was more focused.

 

I'll add in here that she had a full band tonight, seven musicians on stage with her.  And as mentioned, she gave them space to run some solos. 

We arrived just before 6:00 and most of the tables were filled [doors opened at 5:00].  We were seated way over to the right of the stage as you face it. 

Conrad had his back to curtains,

and that helped with him hearing things well.  I will say that it was not an overly loud show, which was good.  

 

Right before show time, two women were seated at the other end of our table of six.  The venue packs in tables like sardines.  If there had been two more at our table, we would have been bumping all night.  Tight quarters.

Food was ok.  It came out fast.  Filling but utterly ordinary.  But they made Last Words

and made them well.  Our waitress was good.  If we went back I’d just do an appetizer or a drink and nothing more.  We each had salmon and two drinks (but she didn’t charge us for one) and shared an appetizer. 

I feel like the cost of the tickets was good value for a one hour (and change) set, but the meal made it not a good value.  I’d rather have a good meal elsewhere first or afterward.

There you go.  I have a few photos from before the show, none of Samara Joy herself.  And that's fine.  A concert where we all sit and listen and clap and enjoy ourselves?  Wow.

Next concert:  Human League, Soft Cell, and Allison Moyet at the Hollywood Bowl in June.  Oh, no, that's wrong.  The Grand Old Opry for us next month! 

Modernism Week (well, one day of it)

I'd heard for years about Modernism Week in Palm Springs.  It had taken on a mythological status, this huge undertaking that was super cool and super hard to get tickets for.  It was something I thought I might never get to because it sounded so exclusive and such.  But I've done a lot over the years in terms of events, so why not this one?

Last year was the first year that I went, and Modernism Week turned out to be pretty low key and not what I expected.  Lots of tours, lots of looking at people's home decor rather than hearing about architecture.  We did a few activities last year, including two tours in our own Rancho Mirage neighbourhood, and they were all fine.  I liked them in differing amounts, but I also was curious what more we could see and do this year.

Happily, the timing of the first weekend coincided with us being back from South America and me having a four-day holiday weekend at work.  We didn't want to overload our weekend, however, so we stuck to Sunday only.  One tour, once concert.  But first, there was brunch.  Yay!  Fried chicken sandwich and a Bitter Elder cocktail at 1501 Uptown Gastropub, a place we find reliable and enjoyable.

The tour we opted for was one of the Palm Springs signature homes tour.  I didn't take photos at all five homes (and we weren't permitted to at the third one we visited, which was also the one we loved, utterly - oh for a lottery win!).  I started out at the first home, a 1946 dwelling that had been renovated and remodeled over the years and now was being used (as so much housing stock in PS is) as an AirBnB.  I liked what they had done with the outdoor spaces all around the house,

while the inside of the house was fine if a little snug, perhaps. 

A nice home.  The next home, a 1956 home that was the original Steve McQueen home (and now - surprise! - an AirBnB), was interesting but not especially attractive.  The third home was an older one that had been significantly overhauled.  Situated in a good neighbourhood, oh, we drooled over that one.  Really nicely updated.  The fourth house was a newer one (and to be clear:  modernism is not necessarily midcentury), and it was terrific, too.  There was real care taken in designing it and its lot.  And what was sweet was the little Airstream parked out front,

the owner's home while the construction was underway.  Finally, we visited a new townhome in a complex we'd seen go from empty lot to its own little community over the years.  The townhome was surprisingly spacious, but what was awesome was that the owner, an artist (I believe), had an amazing collection of furnishings and decor in bold colours.  While it was hard to know what to focus on in any room, it was so delightful to pick out the details of it all.

We enjoyed the tour, but signature homes?  That may be a stretch.  We'll see what homes we might see next year if we go again.

The day wasn't done, though.  We had a concert to attend at the Annenberg Theater that evening:  Samara Joy.  I'll admit, when we booked the tickets, we didn't know her at all.  I can't recall if I spotted her name on the Grammy nominees shortlist for Best New Artist or if Van did, but it was cool to see that.  And then she won.  Plus another Grammy.  Suddenly, we had tickets for a jazz artist who was surely newly in huge demand.  The theater space was perfect for seeing her live.  Back by a great trio of musicians, she sang beautifully but also showed so much humour and charm bantering with the audience. 

The space sits fewer than 450 people, so although we were essentially relegated to the back row, we had no complaints at all.  If you do find your way to this blog, go listen to some of her stuff.  If you get a chance to listen to her live, I recommend it.