Tag Archives: Brandi Carlile

A Fine Frenzy Part 2 – Detroit at The Shelter – March 2008

As music goes, I’ve talked about A Fine Frenzy as much as any musician, probably more and that’s a lot since I hadn’t heard of them 6 months ago. I started liking as soon as I heard of them (they were opening for a Brandi Carlile concert I had tickets for) and I wanted everyone to know know about them!

Aff-Autograph-Pict2351.CropSo Alison Sudol is a super sweet person and seems very sincere. She’s got these great songs and wonderful voice. Alison talks between the songs but I think she’d rather just play, because when she plays it’s like she forgets were there (this is a compliment, not a complaint). When I saw Liz Story, a pianist, play a few years back she talked between the songs because “her agent/manager made her” since if not, she’d just play for an hour non-stop; so she’d stop and tell us stories about the song and the song titles. I think of that sometimes when she’s talking, either that or she’s shy when not singing/playing.

So I keep thinking of two things she talked about. One was her mother and how much they got along and she really liked her (her Mom was there too, right up front). And the other is that she likes the word “shucks” and she’s thinks people should use it more. “Shucks” And she said something like, ‘I know I’m a nerd’ (but I can’t remember if ‘nerd’ was the actual word).

She’s uses Twitter occasionally and the few MySpace e-mails that I’ve gotten from her seem like they were really written by her, that’s got to take a lot of time.

And she’s super nice when I’ve talked to her. And gotten her autograph both times. The promo poster from when I saw her at The Shelter (above) is signed by her you can see a bigger version

A Fine Frenzy is in Detroit this weekend

One Cell in the Sea A Fine FrenzyA Fine Frenzy is playing in Detroit at the Shelter this weekend. It’s a really small venue so it should be a great show! I saw A Fine Frenzy in the fall (upstairs at St. Andrews)and it was an incredible show (they/she opened for Brandi Carlile). Ferras is opening for them, but I have no idea who that is, maybe someone American Idol-ish?

If anyone is going please leave me a comment or send an e-mail and we can say “hi” while were there…. My mission for the evening is Happy Hour for dinner in Dearborn, a fund raiser auction for school in Redford (this is while we’re missing Ferras) and then get over to the theatre to see Alison sing and sign autgraphs…

Speaking of the auction, once again as an auction prize you can buy bags of coffee, straight from costa rica with some chocolate covered coffee beans. Brought to you from central Amaerica by Moi! Also you can by a basket of Cat in the Hat stickers and books which includes a visit to your house from the Cat in the Hat himself!

Brandi Carlile in Detroit – Mini Review

This past Sunday Brandi, as usual, was excellent. She just belts out some of those tunes and other times she’s just kind of mellow, she did a great concert. She covered a Queen song on the piano and it was awesome; it might not have been “a” queen song, it might have been a multiple medley song since I know part of Bohemian Rhapsody (‘momma, just killed a man’) was in it but I think there were parts of that song not sung (‘Gallileo Figaro – magnifico’); does anyone know for sure? She did the Queen song so perfect, I’ve got to think some of the younger crowd assumed it was a song of hers…

She talked about people traveling from Ann Arbor to see her (and vice-versa) and was excited by the response. I’ve driven to Chicago to see her and it was worth it! This was my third time seeing Brandi and I’ll go again next chance!

Back to her music. Some of her more passionate songs just totally get inside me. It wasn’t just me, you could see some were affecting other people too, I don’t know exactly what it is. But a couple really got to me, especially Hallelujah at the end.

Little did I know that while I had an excellent time at the concert that it’s emotional high was just that start of a roller coster ride of emotions this week…

A Fine Frenzy in Detroit – Review

So A Fine Frenzy opened for Brandi Carlile on Sunday and they were so awesome they should be on their own tour. It was a small venue at St. Andrews and I’ve never seen it that packed, they were sold out and they were was a great crowd for AFF. Alison Sudol is the singer and she’s wonderful the songs she did were just beautiful, I wish she had played more. She was so polite and so gracious when everyone kept clapping after a few of her perfectly done songs. I so wish they would have played longer, I thought I saw an extra song on the set list but they didn’t do an encore; I couldn’t read the title so it might have been a song earlier played…

Alison did show up at the sales table to sign autographs. So of course, I purchased another copy of the CD. I got her to autograph it, a booklet and I got my picture taken with her (I sure wish I had a better camera than my phone with me, the lighting was pretty poor were we stood). Once again, she was so polite and pleasant with everyone, almost shy like. I hadn’t realized how very beautiful she was until I got that close to her, it made me feel kind of shy at that point.

The booklet was interesting about ten 5 inch by 7 inch pages with great photos and an interview. I think they were giving them away (at least I didn’t pay for the ones I grabbed for my friends and I) but they were really nice. They looked like they were from an earlier tour (maybe from some kind of press or info packet). Continue reading

Brandi Carlile

This is just a test of a flickr format….

 

Brandi Carlile‘ uploaded by garylapointe

Brandi Carlile in Detroit




Brandi Carlile in Detroit

Originally uploaded by garylapointe

What an excellent show! You’re missing out if you’re a fan and didn’t make it!!

Brandi Carlile and A Fine Frenzy in Detroit – Sunday, October 14th

I know I’ve mentioned it a few times already but Brandi Carlile and A Fine Frenzy are going to be at St. Andrews Hall in Detroit this Sunday. Tickets are only $20 so you should check it out, I’m thinking there won’t be any at the door, this concert has been selling out all over. It’s a nice small venue so if you’re thinking of going then you better get your tickets.

When I saw her in Ann Arbor they made it a non-smoking show at the artist’s request (I’d assume that was Brandi and not the opening act) so I’m hoping it might be again (don’t worry smokers, I think the downstairs will be open for that). If you’re planning on going be sure to drop me a note to let me know you’ll be there…

A Fine Frenzy – 19 songs and 5 videos for only $5.99

AfinefrenzyonecellintheseaSo I’ve mentioned A Fine Frenzy more than a few times lately; they tour with Brandi Carlile and hit Detroit next Sunday (not this Sunday). And I can’t get enough of their album. Plus, I’ve specifically mentioned that their 14 track album of One Cell in the Sea was only $7.99 at iTunes (even higher quality DRM-free) or at AmazonMP3. But they sent me an e-mail advertisement stating that it’s temporarily only $5.99 (in the US), for fourteen tracks, that’s a deal so if you considered it before it’s even a better deal now. The ad made it sound like it was a deal for me since I’ve purchased their music before but it looks like it’s that cheap even when I don’t log in. I have no idea when this will last, please let me know if you see that it goes back up.

On her debut album, Cell In the Sea, Alison Sudol evokes adjectives like enchanting and wistful. A self-taught pianist, she took the name A Fine Frenzy from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Inspired by fantasy writers such as C.S. Lewis and Lewis Carroll, and musical artists Keane and Sigur Rós, the chanteuse’s sublime melodies are guided by her delicate piano work and feminine vocals, which sometimes sound reminiscent of the Sundays. The beautifully sad “Almost Lover” is a surprisingly confident song, and “Hope for the Hopeless” is a perfect remedy when you’re feeling down.

– From the iTunes Description

Plus you can go the the A Fine Frenzy site, and download 5 songs and 5 videos for free (some look like the same odd singles and EPs you can buy at iTunes); these 10 items are free if you purchased a CD or got it from iTunes. You do need to have a CD in the drive so you need to burn it if you don’t have a real CD; the download bonus process even works well on a Mac (for similar promotions for other artists I had to go to a Windows machine and sometimes the files only played on Windows). This really is a deal for $5.99 so I had to share it…

Is anyone going to the Sunday, Oct 14th concert in Detroit? Leave me a message if you are. And if you’ve never been to St. Andrews Hall it’s always way too hot in there so dress accordingly.