La Roux at Concord Music Hall

I've been saying for awhile, music is my therapy.  Last night proved that once again.  I'd been in a little bit of a funk the last few days, just a case of a the blahs.  I wasn't even looking that forward to going to the La Roux show.  I was hoping it might help pull me out of my little funk, and it sure did! The opener Midnight Magic was pretty good.  They had a very disco-influenced sound to me.  It was a lot of fun.  I plan on downloading some stuff of theirs, to check them out more.  Finally, it was time for La Roux.  Of course, I must mention her hair.  It is a work of art, and defies gravity.  I want to know how she does it.  She danced around quite a bit, and it did not move!  Now that that's out of the way, let's discuss the important stuff, the music!  I read in a recent interview, she wanted to work on her stage show.  Her first album was so electronic, there wasn't much of one apparently.  She made a very conscious decision to make her second album more organic in every since of the word.  She toned down her appearance, opting for more laid back clothing and a lot more natural makeup.  She also learned to play bass and guitar.  I did not see her tour her first album, but if that is what she was going for, it worked!  Her songs from the second album seemed to be better live with a band than the songs from the first.  It was a great, fun and energizing show.  The drummer was even standing up and really dancing around.  I don't recall every seeing a drummer dancing like that.  He was a lot of fun to watch himself.  Naturally, she closed out the show with the hit "Bulletproof."  The crowd got super into it.  I even noticed the entire bar staff was filming it on their phones.  It was such a fun, fantastic show!  Check La Roux out if you get a chance.  It definitely pulled me out of my funk.

I also wanted to write a little bit about Concord Hall as a venue.  I have mixed feelings.  The acoustics aren't super great, but I've been to worse.  I'm looking at you Metro!  The thing that really got me, though, was drink prices.  I ordered a vodka/cran and a Jim Beam, and it was $19!  That's ridiculous! I don't plan on drinking there again.  One the plus side, it's got a pretty cool layout.  We just kinda chilled near the back, and I still felt pretty close.  Anywhere ya stand, you'll probably  have a pretty good view.  I can't stress how wonderful the entire staff is.  The staff was all very super nice, and polite even.  If they lowered drink prices, they could be in contention for one of my favorite venues!
  

Bowie is...incredible!

It was announced quite awhile ago that the exhibit "Bowie is" would be coming to Chicago.  After about a year of waiting, the day had finally come.  Whenever    I get so excited about something, I worry I'll be disappointed.  Thankfully, that was very far from the case.  I was not disappointed in the slightest.  I really wish pictures were allowed, but alas they were not.  That was probably my one complaint.  The first thing you see, when you walk in, is a Kensai Yamamoto costume.  It happens to be one used in one of my favorite Bowie pictures ever, see below.  When I saw this, I knew the exhibit would be something special.  The exhibit does a great job of explaining Bowie's influences, as well as tracing his evolution.  I was amazed at what was contained in the exhibit.  The exhibit even has his cocaine spoon on display!   It's now my understanding that Bowie gave the curators pretty much total access to his archives.  The costumes and clothing were definitely a highlight for me. Seeing a lot of the costumes from the Ziggy area was incredible.  They had all the iconic ones. Seeing the "Life on Mars" and "Ashes to Ashes" costumes was also cool.   The exhibit even had quite a few of the costumes/clothing Alexander McQueen designed for Bowie as well.  It was incredible to see the Union Jack coat from "Earthling" in person, also see below. Bowie has also had a pretty great acting career, and there was a whole room dedicated to that.  I have liked Bowie every since seeing The Labyrinth as a little girl, so I was excited to see Jareth's crystal ball and riding crop.  The last room was probably my favorite.  The exhibit definitely eneded on a high note.  It had huge screens with "Rock n Roll Suicide" playing.  The room was also full with tons of costumes, this is were many of the iconic Aladdin Sane costumes were.  The 8yr old in me, who would dance in her room to the Let's Dance album, had trouble containing the excitement.  I wanted the exhibit to last forever!  Do yourself a favor if you are in the Chicago area, and check the exhibit out.    David Bowie is...an icon!