Of Beethoven, Bodyguards, and Really Big Hair

Confession: I have now seen the Trans-Siberian orchestra in concert five times. And I intend to see them again this year at their winter concert for concert number six. I saw them last week during their spring tour of "Beethoven's Last Night" and I've just gotta say it was my favorite concert yet. Jeff Scott Soto (a musical crush o' mine) played an epic Mephistopheles complete with the creepiest evil laugh ever and midnight-black nails. I had to fight back tears as Rob Evan (Beethoven) sang "What is Eternal" (waaaay better than the album version, in my opinion). And something hilarious and unexpected to all parties involved occured: One of the girls was singing this really powerful, raw song from the Gutter Ballet about how run down she was from dealing with her current lot in life. Se began singing "I don't care" over and over in this really gut-wrenching way. Right after about the 5th "I don't care," this guy in the audience screamed, "BUT I CARE FOR YOOOOUUUU!" The audience, the band, and the great Al Pitrelli(who was playing acoustic guitar) all lost it, but she kept a straight face and kept on singing. I have no idea how she did that. But alas, the song was over for the rest of us.
After a mix of the complete "Beethoven's Last Night" with some songs from Gutter Ballet and their newest album, "Night Castle," I was a happy camper. I had another good concert to tuck away into my musical memory box.
Aaaaaannnndddd then, to make the concert even more memorable, I met them. After 5 concerts, I can now say I have met a good portion of the members of TSO.

While I did not have a conversation with each of them, I did talk with about 2/3 of them. Vitali, the Ukrainian keyboardist, told me, "I like ze curly hair. It looks veerry nice." I tried to get the nerve to ask him and Mee, the new female keyboardist, how long it took them to get the fast movement of Moonlight Sonata up the full speed, but instead I just stuttered and stumbled my way through the line. And then, there he was, with his massively big hair and black nails. I was face to face with Jeff Scott Soto. His first words: "I like the hair" as he picked up a piece of his own hair. I fought to keep from collapsing while trying to form complete words. "Thank you. I like yours too."

(There are two things JSS could have said to me that would have made my life. One was "Marry me." The other was "I like the hair." Seriously. I'm not making this up.)

After JSS, came Andrew Ross, who seemed a little perturbed at being forced to wait on us to sign autographs. I just smiled and told him, "Y'all did great" which I'm sure he already knew. I guess that was better than, "Fix the attitude, pretty boy." But other than his smelly attitude, everybody else was genuinely nice. I vaguelly remember some of the girl singers and meeting Roddy Chong, the fiddle player, but I was still spinning from my encounter w/ Mr. Soto. (I'm telling you, I am a huge fan.) I should mention that throughout this process, my friend asked me to take some pictures of her, which triggered some bodyguard to tell me not to take anymore picutres till I got to the end of the line- which was funny, because the people behind me were going waay slow, so the band in between had nothing to do. At the end of the meet-and-greet line came the one and only Mr. Al Pitrelli (yes, the same Al Pitrelli from Megadeth). My friend asked him if he had ever had someone ask him to sign a ketchup packet. Apparently he had not, as he and the girl next to him began laughing hysterically, exclaiming how cool it was to sign it and how ketchup was totally their favorite condiment. He told my friend to come around to the other side of the table and asked me to take a picture of them (which I did, even though the bodyguard gave me what might possibly be the worst look I have ever received from anyone I've not known by name. Really, it was so bad, I cropped him out of my pictures.). Al then told me to walk behind the table to take a picture with him, too. (See? Super nice!) I met Mr. Bodyguard face to face and he started scolding me. I simply pointed to Al and said, "He told me to." He had no response and left me alone. Turns out, it pays to have connections.
And so, without further ado, my proof that I a) met TSO and b) completed Task 51 by meeting another celebrity and not offending him or her this time.


(From left to right) One of the female vocalists whose name I do not know, me, the one and only Al Pitrelli.


Me and Jeff Scott Soto

Creativity is my anti-drug.

It amazes me how much I psychoanalyze myself. Basically every person I meet who finds out I'm being trained as a therapist asks me if I'm psychoanalyzing them. I usually put on my best Freud impression and ask them, "So... how does that make you feel?" just to make them nervous. But in reality, I rarely psychoanalyze someone beyond what anybody would do naturally without their permission. I mean, I hate it when my professors start psychoanalyzing me and trying to give me therapy during a meeting or casual chat. I assume most other people would prefer I not do the same to them. Instead, I focus on myself and why I act/think/feel the way I do. I overanalyze, hypothesize, and soliloquize usually to the point of driving myself crazy. While there are hundreds and thousands of things I have not, and probably will not, figure out, I have come to some pretty solid conclusions about some dimensions of who I am and why I am that way.

For instance:
I thrive on creativity. If my opportunity to be creative is stifled in any way, I wither away into something resembling a zombie with a bad cold. Seriously. I lose motivation, energy, and immunity from infectious diseases. The year I stopped dancing was also the year I ended up with about 4 varieties of sinus infections and colds. It took 4 attempts at heavy antibiotics before I was back to normal. I blame this on the loss of a creative outlet.

So, all this to say that I have found I MUST always have a creative outlet to keep me happy and healthy. Within the past few years, my creative outlet of choice has been a mixture of dance, theatre, and music. But recently, all of my outlets have been smushed, so to speak. This summer proved my body is too old and crippled to endure much dancing; grad school has taken away anytime I might have been able to devote to theatre; and piano has taken a backseat to all of my other responsibilities. So, sadly, I have recently found myself outletless. And fighting off the early (yet still noncontagious, nonthreatening) symptoms of a cold.

However, these past few days have proved to be a silver lining on the dark cloud of my creativity-starved existence. Tonight, a friend and I will be checking out the local choral guild. I haven't been in a choir in probably 5 years. I haven't sung formally since summer. Actually, I haven't sung classically in probably 2 years... Wow.

Anyway, I have also begun attending more classical music recitals and concerts, like I used to. I hadn't realized how much I missed not only performing, but also being in the audience. There's something so rejuvenating and, well, therapeutic about a well-played sonata.

And... a few days ago, I learned how to play the trumpet (Task 44). As a French horn player, I had the basic skills already in my back pocket, but was surprised at how different the two instruments really are. A musician/grad student friend of mine offered to teach me how to play and, starved of creative outlets, I of course agreed. I'm no Maynard Ferguson, but now I can fairly confidently play elementary etudes and duets. I also was reminded that there is a trumpet back home, so maybe I'll keep it up. Maybe this will be a new outlet to add to my inventory.

Proof! Aaaaand, I'm done. No more celebrity madness.

Confession: I'm not usually this celebrity-crazy. I don't care about tabloids or who's dating who or who gained 75 pounds in 2 weeks. It is none of my business. There are actually only a few celebrities (mostly musicians) who I atually like. Gavin DeGraw is on that short list. And it is very rare that I actually meet a professional musician. So, humor me for one more post while I post evidence.


So, here is proof that I met Gavin DeGraw (Task 6). He was so cool and easy going and agreed to take this picture even though nobody was supposed to be taking pictures with him. I was afraid the policewoman was gonna kick me. It's nice to know there are famous folk out there who aren't jerks to us commonfolk.



This is Mr. DeGraw's guitarist, Billy Norris. If I were friends with him, I'm pretty sure I'd call him Babyface Norris. He was really cool, too. The other band members weren't being social, so I guess they just missed out. ;)

I will now return back to the real world, where swagger is a myth, good music is difficult to find, and instead of concerts, lectures will reign supreme.

"And every once in a while, I wanna sit back and enjoy the view"

Well boys and girls, it's been a while. Blame it on grad school, as usual. I'm currently reeling from a Gavin DeGraw concert I attended tonight (2nd row!). That man has some serious swagger. And his band was fantastic. The focus on and passion for the music was evident, which is so uncommon nowadays. Two twitterpated thumbs up, for sure.

I know I already technically completed Task #6 (Meet a celebrity) about a month ago while I was in the musical, BUT
a) the goal of this list is for me to force myself to get out of my proverbial box and live and
b) making myself walk across the front lawn of my grad school to meet Gavin DeGraw seemed worth it. (It was.)

After work today, I saw that the band was doing a soundcheck, so I grabbed some books and nestled down for some good music/reading/Vitamin D time. I didn't time it right weather-wise, because I was brilliantly dressed in a long-sleeved black shirt and jeans, with no way to put my massive hair up, so I fried. But an opportunity like that, so laid back and just plain cool, was too amazing to pass up. After a while, I heard, "Hey! I'm Gavin!" and there he was, for his soundcheck. After he about beat up the poor piano (he can PLAY) and the band played a reggae version of "I'm in Love with a Girl," he came offstage to meet the handful of people out there. I decided at the last minute to go meet him. He was really cool and laid back. He asked me my name and asked if I'd like a picture. My brilliant reply? "No thanks." Really?? Hi, my name is Jessica and I'm an idiot. However I did mention this list and that I had now completed a task. I think he thought I was odd.

Fast forward about 4 hours later...
Went to the concert, stood in the 2nd row, loved it. The atmosphere was INSANE, with a bazillion screaming girls, the loudest of whom seemed to work their ways up to stand directly to my left. Afterward, my friend S. and I decided to wait it out in the line for autographs. I'm not into autographs, but I decided to beg for a picture, since I was too shy the first time I met him.
Y'all, he remembered me. It must've been the big hair. But that was cool. And he let me take a picture with him (if you count leaning over the signing table as a picture WITH him, but I'll take what I can get). The policewoman working crowd control was yelling at me, but Gavin (Mr. DeGraw?) was so nice about it. So, once S. posts the pic, I will post it on here as proof that I met him. But for now, this picture will have to suffice.




In other news, I also completed Task 40 (Go somewhere secluded and yell at the top of my lungs) a few weeks ago. The day after I turned 24, actually. I decided the beginning of a new year would be the perfect time for a cathartic experience. But I'll write more about it later. It's late. This entry is getting waay out of hand. And frankly, I'm too old for this.
So, goodnight. Sleep tight. Don't let the bedbugs bite.

(Title lyrics by Gavin DeGraw, "Free")

My Top 10 List of the Best Songs for Valentine's Day, Vol. 1-3

*Disclaimer: These are the top 10 songs that have come to mind. These lists are definitely not exhaustive and not necessarily in much of an order.*

Volume 1: Songs for the Romantically Involved
10. "All I Ask of You" from The Phantom of the Opera
9. "Your Song" by Sir Elton John
8. "Passenger Seat" by Death Cab for Cutie
7. "Lucky" by Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat
6. "Syrup and Honey" by Duffy
5. "The Luckiest" by Ben Folds
4. "Everblue" by Mandy Moore
3. "I'm Yours" by The Script
2. "Mi Morena" by Josh Groban/"When You Say You Love Me" by Josh Groban (It's a tie)
1. "I'll Be" by Edwin McCain

Volume 2: Songs for the Hopeless Romantic
10. "In His Eyes" from Jekyll and Hyde
9. "Somewhere" from West Side Story
8. "The Guy Who Says Goodbye to You is Out of His Mind" by Griffin House
7. "Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop" by Landon Pigg
6. "Keep on Loving You" by REO Speedwagon
5. "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" by The Beatles
4. "Soulmate" by Natasha Beddingfield
3. "I Want You to Want Me" by Cheap Trick
2. "I Just Haven't Met You Yet" by Michael Buble
1. "So She Dances" by Josh Groban

Just for Fun: Taylor the Latte Boy

Volume 3: Songs for the "No, I Do Not Want to Be Your Valentine"/"I Don't Need Your Pity-Because-I'm-Single"/"I Will Kick You If You Say You Know Someone Perfect For Me" types
10. "I Hate Myself for Loving You" by Joan Jett
9. "Kerosene" by Miranda Lambert
8. "Said and Done" by Meiko
7. "Bust Your Windows" by Jazmine Sullivan/redone by the cast of Glee
6. "Love is a Battlefield" by Pat Benatar
5. "Broken Vow" by Josh Groban
4. "I'm Gonna Find Another You" by John Mayer
3. "Beautiful Disaster" by Jon McLaughlin
2. "My Confession" by Josh Groban
1. "On My Own" from Les Miserables