Event – Ingrid Michaelson at the Lincoln Theatre

I have strong feelings for Ingrid Michaelson.  It’s amazing to think that I had heard her music but not been particularly moved about 3 years ago, but then the Boy and I started dating, and she was on his little-girls-in-the-car-friendly rotation, so I got to hear more of her music, and it felt like she was speaking to me, and how I was feeling.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve listened to “The Way I Am” on repeat, and thought of my own dear Boy.  And then there was the ode to Robert Palmer in her video for “Girls Chase Boys” that is just my everything.  We saw her last year at Wolf Trap for the Lights Out tour, and it was terrific.  And then this summer, the Boy announced that Ingrid had a new album, and would be going on tour again, and here was the video for her single which he knew I would love and made him think of me.

That video.  It gives me life.

Anyways – we decided that this time it would be not just us who went, but his girls, as they like Ingrid’s music too (see above, playing it in the car).  So we got tickets, and then fretted about it being on a school night, and then rejoiced when we discovered that the girls would not have school the next day (today), so it wouldn’t matter quite as much how tired they were the next day.  Huzzah!

So – location: Lincoln Theatre in DC.  It’s an old theater, built in the 1920s that served as the primary performance location in the U Street neighborhood, and was host to so many acts that you’ll recognize that were only able to perform there due to segregation at the time.  In the past few years, it’s been beautifully restored, and now hosts all kinds of performing arts.

We got in, got some popcorn from an old-timey machine that doesn’t have a lot of capacity, and settled in for a fun night.  The opening act was a band called AJR that I’ve never heard of.  They’re very young (the lead singer is 19!!!).  Apparently their best known song is one that sampled Spongebob Squarepants…which I guess I missed?  It was interesting.  They were good, and enjoyable, and I think the girls were more excited about this group than we were, but it’s always interesting to see who’s young, hip and cool that we’ve never heard of.

And then Ingrid came on.  She’s so good.  She makes me want to learn to play the ukelele.  She was just so heartfelt the entire time, and connected with the relatively small audience (compared to Wolf Trap) in such an intimate way.  It was the last stop of this tour, so she was also very emotional about it coming to an end, and not seeing her bandmates and crew every day as they went around the country.

It also meant we got some interesting cool stuff that I’m not entirely sure was part of the act on the rest of the tour – pranks by the crew like coming out and sitting on picnic blankets with a timer to listen to Ingrid tell the background story to one of her songs.  Goofy “natural posed” pictures like this one with boas and hats and stuff.  A bonus encore cover of I’m Too Sexy by Right Said Fred.  It was goofy, and fun, and so enjoyable to see how much she loved the audience and her band and crew.

And the music was amazing too.  I took a couple videos that I’m linking below, and ugh.  Her cover of “Creep” was just devastatingly good.

If you have the chance to go see Ingrid live, do it.  She’s so good.  Her music is so much fun, and she has a wonderful voice for her sad and lovely ballads too.  She’s chatty between songs, and brutally honest (girl, I hear you on the topic of “geriatric pregnancy”), and it’s funny and refreshing to hear someone my age who is “famous” but realistic about her lot in life.  I can’t wait for her to produce MORE music and for her to go on tour again so that the Boy and I can see her live once more.

Details: Ingrid Michaelson (no more tour dates this year)