CNBLUE: My New Favorite Band

My musical tastes typically tend toward the Barbra Streisand / Cher / Broadway show tunes types or toward the singer/songwriter types like Ani DiFranco and Dar Williams, who often perform with nothing more than an acoustic guitar. Thus, I haven’t had a lot of favorite bands. I listened to some Hot Hot Heat and Flogging Molly back in high school, but I’d suppose that my favorite band was arguably not actually a band at all – the K-pop group Shinhwa, of the singer/dancer boy band style . And now I’ve discovered CNBLUE, an actual rock band – electric guitars and drums and everything – and I adore them.

Barbra Streisand and “Evergreen” (Time: Live In Concert)

I adore Barbra Streisand, if you didn’t know. There are no words for what a gorgeous voice she has. I am a big fan. I also have several of her concerts on DVD, of which Timeless: Live in Concert may be my favorite. “Evergreen” is one of my favorite songs from that concert, and I just found a video of the song that I thought I’d share here. 

Caitlin Heaney and “O Holy Night”

My friend Caitlin recently posted a video of herself singing “O Holy Night” on her YouTube channel, CaitlinHeaneyMusic. Today is the day after Christmas, and “O Holy Night” is a gorgeous Christmas song, and of course, Caitlin sounds beautiful, so I thought I’d post the video here. Enjoy!

Glee’s Fashion Night Out

A few thoughts on the Glee cast’s “Fashion Night Out” video: Lea looks so glamorous; I love that silvery sequined dress. Harry Shum, Jr.’s dancing is great, as always. I’m not really feeling the lace-up sneaker look for Dianna Agron. I’m also loving Heather Morris’s red lipstick. Darren always looks dapper, although his hairs strikes me as not as polished as usual. And where is Chris? Seriously? You barely see him until 2:30. And even then, Darren is way more noticeable (granted, I love Darren Criss, but it’s just a little weird that Chris Colfer seems so backgrounded). It looks as though they’re really capitalizing on how huge a fan base Darren Criss has. 

Meeting Dar Williams (Live at the Ark)

Dar and me

Dar’s performance at The Ark in Ann Arbor, Michigan was fantastic. Technically, it was billed as “An Evening with Dar Williams,” which meant that there wasn’t an opening act: it was all Dar. Wonderful. I went with two friends from Bryn Mawr. We stuck around afterwards to meet Dar, and it was super exciting. She was really sweet — she signed our CDs and tickets, took a photo with us, and chatted for a minute about Bryn Mawr. 

Dar Williams: “The Christians and the Pagans”

“The Christians and the Pagans” has been one of my favorite Dar Williams songs for a long time — so much so, in fact, that I chose it as my senior solo with my a cappella group in college (it helped that my friend offered to arrange it for me, though). It is not, however, a song that Dar performs frequently, from what I’ve been able to tell from my four concerts (and multiple YouTube searches). Nevertheless, at her concert at the Fitzgerald Theater in Saint Paul, MN, Dar sang “The Christians and the Pagans,” and it was wonderful.

Dar Williams and “Midnight Radio”

When Dar performed at Bryn Mawr in 2010, she introduced “Midnight Radio” by saying that her friend, Stephen Trask, had told her to come see a play for which he’d written the music. It turned out to be Hedwig and the Angry Inch. The moral of the story? “Support your friends in theatre.”

“The Babysitter’s Here” at Bryn Mawr

A week from today, I’ll be seeing Dar Williams live in concert in Ann Arbor, Michigan! Even better, I’m going to the concert with one of my closest Bryn Mawr friends — and Mawrtyrs make anything Dar-related even better. I’m very excited. This will be my fifth Dar concert and my first non-Bryn Mawr with someone from Bryn Mawr. Here’s a video of Dar singing “The Babysitter’s Here” when she was at Bryn Mawr in the spring of 2010: 

Dar Williams: “You Are Everyone”

Dar Williams performed at Bryn Mawr my senior year. It was a wonderful concert; there’s always a special energy about Dar at Bryn Mawr. This is a video of her song “You Are Everything”:

I first heard “You Are Everyone,” from Dar’s album Promised Land, when she performed at the Minnesota Zoo in the summer of 2009. I love it. The line “You are everyone / I ever trusted, that never made a fool out of me” especially speaks to me.

The Sing-Off

I enjoy The Sing-Off, which is a little odd — given how much I adore a cappella, it would make more sense if I also loved The Sing-Off. I think, however, that The Sing-Off isn’t the kind of a cappella to which I am especially attached: there’s just something about college a cappella that I particularly like. I also tend to place value on inventive choreography and smart arrangements, as well as great singing voices. And perc — that’s important, too. I also don’t necessarily agree with the judges’ decisions.