it feels as if i've been gone for a two-week vacation, but here i am...four days later, trying to at least jot down something about the extra-long weekend i experienced.

first, the vivid experience that was yesterday's day of musical revelry.

after braving the rain, wind and cold that stood between us and howie's performance at mhz studios, beth and i found ourselves among a small group of howie fans (probably around twenty people total) in the studio for the taping of his performance. besides feeling incredibly old and reaffirmed in my belief that i am a tame fan in comparison to some of the fans out there, being there for such a unique experience was very cool. the studio is small and audience members can sit on bleachers in the back behind the cameras. in addition, three small round tables with high stools line one wall on the stage, which is cast in blue and purple lights and has fabric draped about the top, giving the set a sort of cool coffeeshop vibe.

we wound up sitting on stage, beth at the end by one of the cameras, myself next to someone from the howie trading board at the center table. howie was a couple of feet away, and i tried to focus on watching him, rather than the blinking red lights on the three cameras that were moving about during the performance.

howie looked great, although the hair has gotten a little unruly (bit too big, even by his standards) but looks much better now that it's darker. he was wearing a long-sleeved black t-shirt and an incredible pair of jeans (he looked good--even beth acknowledged this). while waiting for the official ok from the cameraman to begin, everyone was sitting there wondering whether or not to say anything or whatnot, so there was a slight squirm factor, which was broken when howie, clearly feeling the same way, laughed nervously.

setlist:
sorry, so sorry
morning after
ghost (beams--no lyrics)
madrigals

watching him perform, i realized how far he's come in just the fifteen months since i'd last seen him perform live (wow--still can't believe it's been that long). songs that i knew like the back of my hand have evolved and grown even more impressive. he's improving as a musician by leaps and bounds. i figured that seeing him perform would accomplish one of two purposes: indicate that i no longer felt the draw of his music or indicate that there was no way for me to be able to stop liking his music. it was the latter.

after the set, he was in the hallway meeting with people and signing autographs, taking pictures, etc. so i finally got my picture taken with him--an event almost three years in the making. so now i'm waiting for something to go wrong with my camera or the film. :)

following the performance, a rain-soaked elizabeth and i headed into georgetown for "tori hunting" and wandered up and down the streets for a bit in what felt like hurricane-force winds. fortunately, we were able to find humor in the situation and laugh at how we had come to resembled drowned rats, particularly when we passed the four seasons hotel and saw two tour buses that we decided were tori's.

after a bit, we headed home, picked up chipotle and shmirnoff ices (and cranberry juice to try spicing them up, which was delightful) and then headed to the show with chloe.

it was bizarre, seeing howie again within a matter of hours, not to mention that it was odd to see him up on a big stage with a red curtain behind him. even from six rows back, he looked so small...very different than the mere feet away he had been earlier in the afternoon.

setlist:
sorry, so sorry
morning after
ghost (beams)
brace yourself
she says (one)
madrigals

i was rather disappointed that the setlist was so similar, but it was to be expected, all things considered. but the addition of the beams outro in "ghost" was so exciting to me (i've only heard it live once--at the iron horse in northampton), although i don't think very many people in the audience picked up on the reference. but hey, the howie fans knew. hearing "brace yourself" live for the first time was exciting--there's something about that song that just hooks me. i love it. and the addition of "one" in she says was a treat i hoped for, but didn't expect, so i was very happy. beth laughed when he went into it because she knew that i wanted to hear it.

and then, there was tori.

setlist:
wampum prayer
a sorta fairytale
take to the sky
pancake
cornflake girl
concertina
sweet sangria
crucify
wednesday
black dove
-road side cafe-
cloud on my tongue
gold dust
icicle -- improv --icicle again
northern lad

sugar
amber waves
don't make me come to vegas
hotel
i can't see new york
spring haze

-encore-
tear in your hand
virginia
hey jupiter -- dakota

in a word: mesmerizing.

i cannot do this show justice, all i can do is describe it a little bit. when she began with "wampum," a light was cast upon the curtain and the scarlet emblem appeared on it. i never expected her to start the show that way, but it fit so incredibly well. as the crowd cheered, the curtain was ripped away to display the stage setup. at the center, an organ to our left and the piano to our right. and, after a few moments of cheering, she walked out, looking absolutely gorgeous and impish.

from the instant she started playing the piano, my emotions were right up at the surface. with the manner in which her voice soared above everything else, the way she could command the keys, spinning from one instrument to the other before playing both at the same time or striking a pose while the rest of the band played, i couldn't take my eyes off of her. and they played it up--backlighting her in blue so she glowed with an other-worldly aura about her, setting up the lights so huge shadows of her band members towering behind while she cast no shadow--the whole thing made her seem larger than life while still showing her fragility--it was amazing.

i've never been at a show where everyone in the venue is silently hanging onto every single word before.

she commented on how d.c. feels like home and then talked about back in the day when she performed all around georgetown and never thought she'd get out of there, but whenever she's back, she's always in georgetown. beth and i looked at each other and screamed as we realized how right on we were about tori hunting in that particular area of the city. during "icicle," she was interrupted by the movement of the fans who had crowded the front area and went into a little ditty about "who's running the show...and who's running the country...and where were all of you last tuesday..." obviously we loved that.

particular favorites? hearing "pancake" because it's the vermont song on "scarlet's walk", hearing "wednesday" because i associate every wednesday at work with that song. "crucify" was amazing, as was "icicle" and "cornflake girl." honestly, every song was magical--and how often can you truly say that about a 23-song set?

but the song that truly got me was "gold dust." i have my own very personal connection to that song, and to hear her perform it solo on the piano was almost too much. i'll never forget how i felt listening to that song.

she was incredible and captivating and while i was a big fan before, words cannot describe how much i love tori amos right now. and i was so happy to be able to be there last night to experience it. thank you chloe and beth for being there with me.

considering that i've been very busy today and it's taken almost all day for me to be able to write just that, i'll have to write about the rest of the weekend tomorrow. but, in short, a lot of fun. more details will be provided later. :)