My best bartender friend in the whole wide world, Nev, asked if I was free on Monday night. I did not have anything proper planned and said, “Sure, what are we doing?” He had tickets to see Lily Allen and I was invited to come along.
To be honest, I could not recall who she was. Then when I Googled her and watched her YouTube of Smile, I remembered seeing the vid along the ways somewhere. Over the course of this past weekend I brushed up on her so as to not seem completely at loss. I really liked her sound. Now, after seeing her live, my feelings for her music have been reinforced. What a charming entertainer (I say that and giggle as I think of the lyrics to her little ditty “Fuck You”).
The opening band was a Seattle group called Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head. The name of the band was inspired by Natalie Portman’s appearance in the 2005 movie V for Vendetta. Listening to them I was reminded of the techno sound of the mid 80s. I liked them a lot. I thoroughly enjoyed a song about a ponytail from their keyboardist Claire England. The song Sophisticated Side Ponytail can be found on their myspace page.
The venue was Roseland in the Times Square area of NYC. I was impressed that the place was sold out. Nev “has a guy” who works in security. We bypassed the line (standing in the rain poor guys), went to the front door, was ushered to a set of stair and we sat in the balcony watching the show from above. We were there early enough that we were able to secure high chairs and a place next to the ledge. Our seats were phenomenal and we were able to watch the entire show comfy and unobstructed. I bumped into someone I know who works the venue and she gave Nev and I two free drink coupons (I heart Malibu).
Then Lily Allen came on. What a treat she was from beginning to end. She mentioned between songs that she was not feeling well. You could not tell from her performance. She was high energy. She sang the crowd favorites: The Fear, Smile, It’s Not Me It’s You, and my favorite Fuck You. The thing that amazes me is that she closed her show with her rendition of of Britney Spears’ Womanizer. The rendition started out with a clip of the new song “Day and Night”.
Kudos to Ms. Allen all around. If you have not heard her, give her a listen and tell me what you think.
Ciao.
Thoughts and Ponderances 
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