This may not seem like alot to avid concertgoers, but two concerts in three days for me is like traveling along the entire East Coast to catch the remainders of the Grateful Dead…
…or like Phish or the Puff Daddy and the Family Tour circa ’98. Anyway, for someone who barely leaves her house, seeing these shows definitely made me realize I should caulk the wagon and float it across the river some more like they did in the Oregon Trail game. Anyway let’s start with Monday.
Lily Allen. I remember the last time or the time before that when she came to New York and was all mad and drunk, everyone started hating her. I caught her when she was on the sobriety kick, so the drunkisode didn’t do much to my opinion of her. She’s brilliant live. Her voice is flawless and she can carry a tune like it’s a designer bag on Fashion Avenue. A few months back I was fortunate enough to get into the overly packed Bowery Ballroom show (thanks Cornerstone!) where all of the MySpace kids from Long Island were standing around with emo haircuts gyrating to “LDN”. Lily called that her favorite show, and I agreed…until this one at Roseland on Monday night. So the stage set up has the big block “Lily” letters like her recent album release It’s Not Me, It’s You. Only about five minutes late, she hit the stage in a navy blue hoodie, white shirt, leggings, gym shorts and hi-tops. Opening with her drug talk-slash-social commentary single “Everyone’s At It”, Lily breezed through most important songs from both of her hit albums. She even squeezed in a few lines from the Mark Ronson collab “Oh My God”. A cool point in the evening was during “Fuck You” where most of the audience had middle fingers held high.Then came the encore(s). First she performed “Smile”, the first single from her debut album Alright, Still. That carried into an extended electronic chaotic little dancy party to the tune of Kid Cudi’s “Day N Nite” which then led into “The Fear” with a final closer of Britney Spears’ “Womanizer”. There were no celebrity sightings besides me and some woman who resembled Montana from the Real World Boston. Someone in the audience was drunk and vomited all over the place, and it wasn’t Lily Allen. It wasn’t me either, I was watching from the Mezzanine. VIP, bitches.
Nina Sky. I’ve seen Nina Sky perform about a trillion times. Seriously, a trillion. I even saw them perform in Miami and traveled even further to like, Staten Island to see them perform with a live band. Talk about touring the East Coast to see a group. This performance last night at SOB’s was a homecoming of sorts. Nicole and Natalie have been touring the world still riding off the success of their self-titled debut from 2004 and getting their sold out crowd ready for this way too long awaited follow-up album The Musical. There’s been talk as to whether or not two twins who made a good album five years ago can return with a great album five years later. The answer is hell yes, and their new songs and “never let you down” stage presence are proof of that. The girls stepped on stage last night to the tune of Big’s “Sky Is the Limit” – totally apropos given the origin of their group name. Both clad in cute dresses – Natalie with a bob-cut and Nicole with the side of her head shaved (sorry Cassie, you weren’t the first…or the last) – they danced around and flawlessly sang through new songs like “The Real” and “Curtain Call” and oldies but goodies like “Turnin Me On” and a reworked “Move Ya Body” that interpolated Michael Jackson’s “Ya Wanna Be Starting Something”. They even covered Mary J’s “Real Love” and Eurythmics’ “Sweet Dreams”. Nicole, who moonlights as a DJ (we’ve talked about this already) got on the 1’s and 2’s for a hot second while their DJ Stealth played hypeman. They closed their set with “On Some Bullshit” and also led the crowd in a middle finger lovefest. Pitbull came on later and he had bongos. The end.
In all, both shows gave me more of a reason to leave my house. DVR, prepare for some major abuse.
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