Last Tuesday I saw Switchfoot in Salt Lake City, they put on a great show! First time at The Depot and it sounded really good! I will be going to see NEEDTOBREATHE this Friday at the same venue. If you haven't seen NEEDTOBREATHE, they will put on one of the best concerts you will ever see! There style would be considered, high energy Southern Rock and Roll!

High praise indeed, Murph! Glad you had an awesome time.

My wife and I attended Barbra Streisand's "Back to Brooklyn" concert last night in Vancouver. Classic showbiz at it's finest complete with Chris Botti, Il Volo and 60 piece orchestra. A spellbinding evening indeed.

I got to see Emily Wells for the third time last night, which means I've seen her as many times as I've seen Regina Spektor. She played at the Crocodile in Seattle, which I saw the Proclaimers at before, and my sister and brother-in-law saw Marina and the Diamonds there, too. It's a smaller venue, and I don't feel as hip/scuzzy as the normal audience member.

Eternal Fair, a Seattle band, opened. They were fun enough, and their musicianship was fine, but they weren't necessarily something I'd see myself listening to. Still, the lead singer/guitarist seemed to be pretty happy to be performing, which is always easier to get into than the pretentious, brooding kind of artist. Not that all brooding is pretentious, but you can't let everyone get away with their attempt at it, that's all.

Emily Wells gave a strong performance. I was satisfied, and she played a little new material. Her mom was in the audience, too. My sister, who hadn't really tried to listen to any of her stuff, wasn't digging her, unfortunately. My brother-in-law kind of liked her, though, and I gave him the download code for her Symphonies album that came with the vinyl version I bought. After her set, she went back to her merch table to help sell and sign, and her mother was there, too. I asked Emily how much her postcards were, since I already owned everything else on the table (I bought the vinyl before the show started to be sure they didn't run out). She said they were free, and to take as many as I wanted. I told her she played an awesome set, and I had seen her at Gleason Gras in Spokane. She was all, "Gleason Gras!" and raised her arms to show her excitement. I said, "That was an interesting show," since that's about as profound as I get when my brain is tripping over itself. "It was," she agreed, since that's about all you can say to someone who's overwhelmed. Then I fled, snagging a single postcard. No picture this time, no autograph.

Dark Dark Dark, the co-headliners, started playing, and we waited through a couple of songs, but it wasn't doing a whole lot for any of us, so we decided to take off. We passed by Emily, and she was hugging the holy heck out of someone. That could have been me!

See what happens when she runs out of free postcards?

Went to the Muse concert last night in Vancouver. A lot of flash but not much substance in the music. Was sitting close to the stage to witness some real lip syncing which was rather disappointing for a band of that profile.

Yeah, I'd say. I don't own any of their stuff but like what I have heard on the web. I wouldn't have thought they'd be the kind of act that would do a thing like that.

Well I was surprised as well. Attended the show with a friend from the music industry who has worked for Live Nation in concert production for years. He was the one who pointed it out to me. We were chatting with a friend of his before the show who is producing the Muse tour and this fellow commented on how the show runs for 1 hour and 33 minutes. Set your watch and count down. Pretty disappointing to say the least however thats the state of the music biz these day's. FYI, all the performances at the Super Bowl are live recordings lip synced by the artists. Can't afford any screw-ups when 30 second commercial spots are worth millions. Thankfully Rush doesn't do this

Actually, I believe that lip syncing in huge venues such as stadiums and inaugurations are more often due to the incredibly long delay before you hear yourself back through the house system.

It's disconcerting to sing and "hear yourself sing along" a couple of seconds later!

Yeah, that's why I don't sing in large venues.