What an amazing show. And you know what? Amazing doesn't even do justice to what the Monster Ball at Radio City was for me last night.
First off, we sat second row and I can basically never see Gaga again unless I am that close. It was out of control fantastic. GAGA AND I MADE EYE CONTACT AT LEAST 3 TIMES!!!!! She looked so great and so real. And the bitch SANG EVERY SONG. She sounded...god what other word can I use besides amazing?
I attended the concert with the fabulous Yasmina, Brian and Christos. I couldn't have asked for better concert buddies. We each danced and sang along to every song. ALL FIFTEEN OF THEM. We got there ten minutes before Gaga went on and let me tell you--when you sit in the front rows you get MUCHO RESPECT from ushers. I was LOVING IT. I didn't see any celebs by us but we were literally 2nd row CENTER. Talk about the best seats ever. I WAS IN ONE.
She sang every song that I love with the exception of Paper Gangsta and I was okay with that one being omitted. I like to think of Paper Gangsta as me and Gaga's song and I was glad she didn't share a live performance with everyone.
One of many awesome things she said:
"This is a free place - a place for my little monsters to be themselves"
I have never felt more free in a place. Gaga fans are so great because to be a Gaga fan you have to be accepting. So there was no "omg her dress is gross and what is that headband?"It was "this place rocks!! Hey girl!! GAGA FOREVER!!!"
Here are some pics because words can't really describe. Click here for the photo album and here's some of my favs below.
4 little monsters on their way to the ball
Want your bad romance
Watch your heart when we're together, boy's like you love me forever
show me your teeth.
She left me speechless.
If you haven't bought the album The Fame or The Fame Monster - buy on Sunday 1/24 from ladygaga.com. Everything sold from the website that day will go to Haiti.
I love pop music. I always have. In 3rd grade I was so obsessed with the New Kids on the Block I literally prayed every night that their tour bus would break down on my street. Because of course that would logically lead to them staying the night in my house which naturally results in Joey M and I sharing a room and those prankster bandmates of his putting us in a "French kissing position" so that in order to break apart we'd have to....french kiss.
But anyway....I've always loved a bubblegum beat--I like songs that make me smile and make me want to walk a little faster because maybe there's a party around the corner.
This brings me to my current obsession and her name is Gaga. I just don't understand people who can't get behind her. The Fame is an amazing album and The Fame Monster.....Gaga is actually otherworldly. I used to pride myself on not buying a CD unless I liked at least 3 tracks. I actually love all 23 songs she's put out. Even the ones I don't outright adore, I don't skip in my All Gaga playlist.
I wasn't a fan at first. I liked Just Dance--no one can deny: it's a really fun song. Poker Face was catchy and made me want to dance. But I still thought she was weird and contrived and a drag queen. Then came Paparazzi and that crazy ass video and a little monster (gaga for "fan") was born. Something about the Paparazzi hook really resonated with me and I suggest for beginning Gaga fans that you start with Paparazzi from the Fame and Speechless from the Fame Monster. Speechless is maybe one of the best songs ever. Period. It's hard to listen to it and not be touched and I can't think of another song that triggers that kind of emotion in me except for maybe Yesterday.
I don't really talk about music often because for most of my life I've always caught shit for the music I listen to. The black kids made fun of me for listening to Celine Dion and the white kids thought I was lame because I didn't like Radiohead. I can't even really say definitively that pop is my genre of choice. Because while I adore it, I also really like jazz and country and gospel and rap. But now I'm a grownup and I'm much more comfortable in my own skin and I could give a shit if someone doesn't like the music that I like.
But I really feel the need to spread the word about Gaga.
She's just so refreshing. She keeps her personal life private and I think that's really awesome. I love her songs, I don't need to know who she's fucking. I feel like she's just about her music. Gaga is Gaga not Stefani Last name I don't remember. And her songs are really fantastic. It infuriates me that DJs don't play more of it. You can put on a mix of The Fame and The Fame Monster and you have a dance party--just hit play and shuffle. If you haven't learned the Bad Romance dance you should get on it because it's maybe this years Macarena. And I don't know about you but after the demon that was 2009, I think 2010 needs a Macarena.
So while I'm on the "let me tell you a thing or two about music sonny" kick here are some other albums you should have a listen to:
Rihanna - Rated R: I think that they're saying this album is getting bad reviews. Well "they" are full of shit because this album is amazing. I think it's Rihanna being kind of raw and saying to hell with it, I'll do what I want and I love that. It's also an amazing breakup album especially if you were the one who got screwed. Key tracks are Hard which is so empowering and makes me feel like I can kick so much ass and Cold Case Love--her voice is so well suited for this song, I don't know if it will ever make it to the radio but I think it's some of the best singing I've eveer heard her do. Fun dance tracks are Rude Boy which should a gay bar anthem already and Rockstar--you can't not move when it's on and feel like a badass. My top fav track is Fire Bomb. It shows the crazy and I love the crazy.
Ke$ha - Animal: I've shouted out to Kesha before but I will do it again because this morning I listened to an NPR interview with her and she said she was in the marching band, unprovoked. Anyone who admits they were in marching band without specifically having been asked is Good People. I've had her album for a couple of weeks now and I'm nowhere close to being sick of it. Her songs are really catchy and really funny. My top tracks are Take It Off--this song makes me want to be drunk and dancing on a table in a bar that smells like tequila, Stephen--named for the actual boy who dissed her, this one is ballad-ish and hilarious, and Animal--because it reminds me of a prom scene in an 80s movie when everyone realizes, "This has been such a great night and we have our whole lives in front of us guys!" And of course everyone knows Tik Tok. Is it wrong that I let Kailyn and Amme watch that video so many times? They loved the song. Kailyn asked me, "Bran why does she brush her teeth with Jack? Is Jack like Crest?"
And lest you think that I'm up too high on my music snob wannabee horse, my first CD and still one of my favorite CDs is a little album called Breathless but a pretty suburb saxophonist named Kenny G. And I'm not afraid to let the world know about that. I think Kenny G is the bomb and I do recall on many occasions saying that I'd love to have him play at my wedding. And at any other important event in my life which may or may not include 2nd and 3rd marriages, birthdays, and "I just need a little soprano sax music" days.
Favorite track below.
(No I'm not kidding.)
So let's give it up for pop in 2010. I hope that Gaga is setting the bar for new artists and I know that her 3rd album (to be released later this year) will be something totally new but still incredibly awesome. Official fan for life right here.
Oh and ps TOMORROW I AM SEEING HER LIVE AT RADIO CITY IN THE SECOND ROW.
That's right--you read that right SECOND ROW!!!!!!!
Beyond excited and sometimes when I think about it I have to stop because I can't breathe.
So I moved to a new desk at work today. I was in the middle of unpacking all my former cube stuff into my new cube and listening to my Gaga/Ke$ha/Rihanna playlist on low when I feel a big chunk of snot come out of my nose. I grab a tissue and blot. I then see that it's not snot. It's blood. And now it's pouring out of my nose. The tissue was soaked. I run to the bathroom praying that no one sees me with my bloody hand over my nose. It was sick. There was blood in my mouth, in the hand. Thank GOD it didn't get on my shirt or jeans--just my Wal-Mart uggs. I make it to the bathroom with no one seeing me (I hope) and there I preceded to freak the fuck out.
I do not get nosebleeds. In fact, I can't even remember the last time I got a full-on nosebleed. And no I haven't done in nose candy treats--if I had I wouldn't be blogging about this OR freaking out about it because I would have been like goddamn that eight ball. So I freak out because I'm not a person who ever really gets sick even. Embarrassing confession: I had perfect attendance from kindergarten to graduation. In my old age, I've been prone to colds more but at most I'm out for only a day or so.
So I freaked out and I'm just going through paper towels like they're made of air or something. I'm positive that I'm going to die and all I can think is, "I can't believe I'm going to bleed to death at work. This is such a surprise." It was so scary. And since I was freaking out I did was any freaked out youngish single adult in New York would do.
I called my roommate.
Her advice was to just tilt my head back and calm down because "people get nosebleeds Brandy, it's okay." Then one of my coworkers came in and was so super nice to me--she went to the kitchen and got me ice and napkins and suggested that I lay on the couch in the bathroom with my head back. "I have an 8-year-old--this one is not that bad." I'd like to note that since I am so completely unfamiliar with what to do in a nosebleed situation, I'd never even thought of tilting my head back or laying on the couch. I was hyperventilating instead and staring at my crazy bloody face in the mirror and explaining to the girl washing her hands when I burst in that I was not contagious or anything and that I promised to clean up any spilled blood.
I never want to have another nosebleed again.
Especially not at work.
In unrelated but important and sad news if you haven't already and you can, please donate to the Haiti relief effort. I don't even know how to feel about what's going on down there. It's like to feel sad just isn't enough.
And for the record, the terrible things that awful conservative assholes have been saying about it make me want to believe in the crazy evangelical Christian version of hell.
In happier news, thanks to everyone who came out to the show last night!! It was a really good time and I felt good on stage. God I love having a microphone in my hand.
Basically in 2010 I am turning into a Greek Yaya. That's foreign for Grandma. All I want to do is knit things to keep people warm and cook large meals that involve me being in the kitchen for at least 3 to 4 hours. I want people to come over and I have this need to feed.
Yaya Crawford
I can't say that I mind. I've always enjoyed cooking but I was a recipe whore. I needed to follow the recipe exactly or I would be freaking out. Somewhere in the last few months, I've stopped using recipes and somehow I now just know how much salt is too much or how much oil is too little. I live for the Essex Street market. The thought of a dozen large eggs for $1.49 and eggplant for 49 cents a pound--these are things that make my heart leap for joy. I bought a really nice stock pot at Macys and literally thought I was going to lose my shit in the Cellar. All I wanted was EVERYTHING that Martha Stewart makes.
I made 6 of these over the break.
It's Sunday and I'm going to be making a big meal today. I don't know what it will be yet since I had quite the crazy night and I don't think I can realistically leave this couch for another hour at least. But it will be a meal partly in celebration of Sunday and partly in celebration of committing another year of my life to my current apartment. My roommate and I just decided to sign our lease for another year together. That means year 6 of Brandy in Alphabet City starts in March. It's crazy to think that I have been with my roommate for SIX YEARS. This is longer than I've lived with anyone ever and I'll tell you the secret to a longlasting roommate relationship:
You have to be able to talk or not talk for hours. And be okay with that. My roommate and I can sit on our couches for hours watching TV and being on our computers not saying a word to each other. The best relationships are with people you can be comfortably quiet around.
Here's what else is going on:
I have a comedy show on Wednesday!! If you are in NYC you should come! It's at Comic Strip Live on 2nd Ave btn 81st and 82nd Street. Starts at 830--let the person at the door know you are here to see Brandy Crawford!!
Ke$ha. I downloaded her album this week and I recommend you do the same. It's only 6.99 on itunes and it's a REALLY fun hour. She's a crazy young party girl and she warms my heart. With lyrics like "I threw up in a closet and I don't really care" and "Just turn around boy and let me hit that" how can you NOT have a good time while listening? She is currently beating Gaga in the charts and while you KNOW my love for Gaga isn't going anywhere, I am having a full on affair with Ke$ha.
GAGA IS IN 13 DAYS. I bought a new dress. I know the Bad Romance dance like I know walking. IT'S GOING TO BE AMAZING.
Did you buy the Fame Monster yet? Get on that.
And here are some pictures from the Gaga photoshoot I did with Kailyn and Amme and Madisyn. Just know that this is only the tip of the iceberg with the cuteness
And can I say that getting this baby back was a really emotional experience for me. I turned it on at Tekserve to make sure that it was working and when she powered up and made that mac sound that says "Hi I'm working!"....I almost lost it.
I know now how parents must feel when they see their kids after awhile away.
So she's back and the keyboard is great. No trace of baby vom. I also find it a little strange that the guy at Tekserve told me he's never had someone come in who had baby vomit damage. I guess it makes me feel a little special that every employee was grossed out by my poor comp and probably had to draw straws to choose who had to work it. Little did they know it would be totally clean because I'm the one who had to clean up the computer, the baby AND the couch and carpet. Infinitely worse than wearing plastic gloves to replace a pop out keyboard.
But anyway. The important thing is that they did a great job with my biohazard of a computer and I am very happy to have her back in my life.
