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Amanda and I went to see A Fine Frenzy perform live at People’s Court downtown last night. It was a invite-only concert, which just goes to show you what a celebrity I am around these parts.*

It was a cold, cold night, and People’s was even colder. The building’s HVAC system was on the fritz, meaning there was no heat whatsoever on the 3rd floor (where People’s is located). However, I heard that the dressing rooms on the ground floor were a right toasty 100 degrees or so. Some people get all the luck.

So how was the show? Despite the chilly beginnings, it was really awesome. Little Mojo opened, and while they had a bit of trouble getting the crowd going at first (I blame the temperature), they had won the mob over by the end of their set.

And Alison Sudol of A Fine Frenzy… well, I probably shouldn’t go into too much detail, since Amanda reads my blog. ;) But suffice it to say she’s a great songwriter, a fantastic singer, and comes off as a truly wonderful person in real life. She’s the sort of personality that I like to surround myself with – an unabashed dork. :) She played eight or ten songs, and the crowd loved her. She even stuck around afterwards to take photos with people and sign autographs. Sadly, our poor pooch had been kenneled for around nine hours by that point, so we decided to head home instead of sticking around for an up-close photo op. Being a grown-up is hard sometimes.

But anyway. A Fine Frenzy rocks, particularly in person. If they ever decide to grace Des Moines with their presence again (it was their first time in Iowa), I will be one of the first to buy a ticket.

* Or, that I am a member of their music advisory panel, and everyone who took a survey got an invite. Either way.

So I have decided that, as of today, I am a fan of Damien Rice. Why, asks thou? Well, I’ve loved “The Blower’s Daughter” for a really long time now. So long, in fact, that I’ve been convinced it must be a cover of some older song, cause I could’ve sworn I’ve liked this song since high school. I’ve even debated this fact with people, along the lines of:

“Who sung The Blower’s Daughter?”
“Umm… Damien Rice, I think.”
“No no… I mean the original singer.”
“I think he was the original singer.”
“Yeah, well I think you’re stupid.”

But now I’m starting to think that I must have been wrong. Anyways, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. It turns out, Mr. Rice also sings “9 Crimes,” also known as this song here (it’s gorgeous… you should listen). I didn’t discover that he was said singer until yesterday afternoon, but after that, I had some serious self reflection to do.

I mean, his music is lovely in a near-folky sort of way (edit: turns out he’s self-classified as a folk singer. Go figure). His timing is superb. His voice is simultaneously mournful and hopeful. His lyrics are just mysterious enough for me not to know exactly what he’s talking about, but just clear enough that I’m pretty sure I get the idea.

But, you know… he’s Damien Rice. And I’m pretty sure liking him makes me gay. So to compromise, I think I’ll just be a closet Damien Rice fan: I’ll listen to his music in private, and possibly discuss the beauty of his lyrics with The Ladies, but he’s not exactly coming out on Karaoke Night at the Rusty Cowboy Pub or anything. And nobody will be any the wiser.

Well, except for you persons, of course. But I trust you explicitly. And you can tell it’s explicit trust because I just said it. Implicit trust would have gone without saying.