c'mon, live a little!

That was the advice of my younger sister, Gigie, last night when I was whining to her that Kevin and I had tickets to a concert and I didn't want to go because I was too tired, way too busy laying on the couch like a total bum, and totally devoid of any motivation to go through the trouble of finding something to wear. I know, pathetic. I'm officially 25 going on 110.

Well, grandpa Kevin and I finally decided that we are indeed slipping much too easily into the comforts of old age, and so, go to the concert we did. Man, am I glad we listened to the youngster! Not only did we finally get to hang out at First Avenue - Minneapolis' historic music venue made famous by Prince in Purple Rain - but I also got to hear my musical equivalent to the perfect pair of red shoes. Basia Bulat and her band hit the stage and it was absolutely love at first sound. She blew me away with her gorgeous soulful voice, her unusual choice of instruments (the autoharp! a ukelele!), and her sweet onstage personality. I was in musical heaven. She was the opening act for DeVotchka, who were also very good, very interesting (cello, violins, guitar, accordian, bouzouki, drums, a tuba), and fun to watch.

All in all, a great Wednesday night for us, and if you enjoy talented singer-songwriters with beautiful soul-filling voices, then I encourage you to check out Basia Bulat.

Basia Bulat