Weekend Update -Bleu in Boston - er, Cambridge.

posted Wednesday, 29 July 2009

Ya, ya - it's a Weekend Update on Wednesday. Break. Givin' me one.

This, or rather last, weekend kicked off in the Republic of Cambridge with ArcherVision , Lesley , and Mo-town - we went to catch a live show at tt the bears of singer/songwriter Bleu , of whom Mo is a fan.

I'd never seen Bleu live before, but I dig his stuff. Here's the thing: he's one of the few artists who I will likely listen to again and again via recordings, but probably won't seek out to see live again any time soon. The show was fun, but as my former bandmate Rob let me know, Bleu's also his 'own person.' This translates into stopping and starting over during some numbers to get it just right during his show on Friday, as well as attempting to sing off the mic at one point while a full-on metal band raged next door at the Middle East. If not for the quality of his lyrics and tunes, Bleu would have lost me - these are cardinal sins of live performance that make me cringe to this day. Dancer and choreographer Lesley agreed - do not break the fourth wall!

Still, with lyrics like 'Twisted Sister meets Mister Mister' in the tune Boy Meets Girl, Bleu is some good listening. The highlight of the evening was an audience-participation-driven cover of Human Nature by Michael Jackson; oddly, in the last month of All Things Michael, I haven't heard this song much on the airwaves, and Bleu's was a great, folky rendition. Another cool aspect of the night: by the time we'd walked back to the car after the show, Bleu, or at least his camp, was already following all four of us on Twitter, based solely on our Tweets about being at tt the bears. Yay again for social technology.

It's been a while since I've been down to the Repub for a show, and it was nice to be back in Beantown-adjacent, but I did feel alternately old or uncool at certain periods of the night. It's that whole air-of-indifference-and-pretention that Cambridge bars have, I guess. It's lacking in the watering holes of Cape Cod and Western Mass., where I spend most of my make-merry-time, and therefore not really my scene. Looking like I didn't put too much effort into my outfit is way too much effort.

Finally, a note to the cats at tt the bears - ONE stall in the ladies bathroom? What, are you masochists?! We did appreciate your budget-friendly Pabst blue-ribbon, though, and the bartender at the back bar is awesome.

That is all.