So, as I mentioned, I saw Maria Taylor on Sunday night. I think I am sufficiently recovered enough from the fact that I didn't get home until 3:30(!) in the morning and just the general awesomeness of the show now to talk about it a bit.
First of all, the doors were supposed to open at nine (which is ridiculous by the way) and, being that things can never happen on time, didn't actually open until after nine-thirty. And it was pouring rain the entire time. So we sat in the car for more than an hour waiting because I didn't want to get wet. Fun times. Then the show probably didn't start until at least ten, probably later. The first opening act was some local girl whose name is spelled Hana and pronounced "henna" and her voice sounded almost exactly like The Hush Sound's Greta on
Goodbye Blues, seriously. Anyway, she was alright but nothing special and only sang about five songs. Thank God because I wasn't expecting there to be more than one opener in the first place and I just wanted to see Maria!
So then it was time for the Whispertown 2000. I have to admit, I probably wouldn't have gone to this if they weren't opening because I love Maria but not quite enough to warrant driving six hours there and back for her alone - but since I love this band too it made the drive more worth it. And they were pretty fucking awesome. Morgan is so adorable and kept babbling incoherently about nothing in particular between songs. And she and Vanesa both sounded amazing. And Tod was hot. And on a less shallow note, played some really kickass guitar solos. And Casey... well, I didn't pay much attention to him during their set but he was rather amusing later on. So let's see, they played:
103
Lock and Key
Restless
Old Times
Erase the Lines
Pushing Oars
Ebb and Flow
Firecracker (new song)
Time Will Welcome Anything (new song)
From the Start/Jamboree
Roughly in that order. The middle few might be off a bit but the first and last three were in that order. Anyway, I was so excited for "Ebb and Flow" and "Erase the Lines" because they are my favorites on the new album and they didn't disappoint. And the two new songs were also fantastic. For the last two songs, Maria's band came onstage with them (they asked Maria to as well but she didn't sadly) and "From the Start/Jamboree" was especially fucking insanely awesome. They could've played one or two more songs from their first album but it was great anyway.
So then I decided to buy merch between their set and Maria's. Maria had an extremely disappointing t-shirt selection: one was just grey and said Maria Taylor in a really boring font on the front, another was some bland color I don't remember exactly and said Savannah Drive in the same font as on the EP, and the third had a little tiny bird on the front and said Maria Taylor on the back (grey again). I didn't really like any of them but I wanted to support her so I got the third one because at least it had some sort of picture on it and I hate shirts that are only text. She also had button packs. Which I should have gotten but didn't. And I also got a Whispertown t-shirt and Swim. And guess what? I had them sign it! Which was exciting.
The uber-cute message in red is from Morgan; I have no idea if that little squiggly line is supposed to be her signature but if it is, whoa, that does not even form letters. The big thank you is from Vanesa (who is so pretty, by the way). And the one on Casey's head is Casey (duh) which is actually legible if it wasn't written on top of the picture. Tod was onstage setting up for Maria because he played with her too. I guess I could've found him at the end and had him sign it but, whatever, I was tired and ready to go home. (He was so sexy, though, oh my God. In fact, Maria's entire band was really good-looking. I was trying to focus only on Maria but between her hot keyboard player [who also did most of the background vocals; I, of course, would have preferred Andy LeMaster but this guy actually kinda sounded like him and did a good job on his parts anyway] and Tod it was very hard.) Anyway. Yeah, they were all super-nice and I couldn't think of much to say but it was cool anyway.

Maria came on while I was still talking to them so I kinda missed "Ladyluck" but that's okay because it's not one of my favorite songs. Despite the fact that I didn't get out on the floor until her first song was over, I was still pretty much on top of the stage. Seriously, there were not that many people there at all. The place definitely wasn't even close to capacity-full and it was kind of sad; I would've thought she'd draw a larger audience than that. It was also kind of cool for selfish reasons though because I got to be super-close and it wasn't all crammed and sweaty so that was nice. I really wish I had thought to bring a camera because I would've been able to get some pretty good pictures (even with my shitty photography skills).
Anyway, the music? Oh yeah, it was amazing, predictably. The songs sound so much more alive than they do on record. I mean, I love her records (well, sorta like Ladyluck) but they're really restrained and calm, even in the most upbeat or loudest parts. They were totally rocking live though. Especially "Xanax" - which was every bit as kickass as I was expecting it to be - and "Song Beneath the Song"; they closed with that one and everyone came up onstage and it was just one big jam session. Her voice also sounded flawless and much more commanding and intense than on the albums, especially on the songs from 11:11 and on the choruses of "Replay" which she got really into. A few songs into the set, Casey from Whispertown came over and stood at the side of the stage and he was being really obnoxious and loud between songs (not in an annoying way though; he was hilarious) and generally bugging Maria and she kept cracking up during the slow songs and having to start over. At one point, she made him go hide in the corner so that she could get through one without laughing. And then she said, "Casey actually doesn't drink if you can believe it" and at the end, when they all came up, he put his hat on her and it was super-cute. She also kept almost hitting her guitar player in the head which was funny. And talked about how the night before she and Morgan had decided that they were going to tour with each other forever because they loved it so much and then they drank so much that the show was terrible. And she was just generally extremely adorable. And also, she is really really tiny in person! Like Jenny Lewis levels of tiny. And sooooo beautiful. Anyway, setlist, not in order at all except the first three songs and the last song:
Ladyluck
Replay
No Stars
Clean Getaway
Time Lapse Lifeline
Birmingham 1982
A Good Start
Orchids
Xanax
My Favorite Love
Cartoons and Forever Plans
Speak Easy
Song Beneath the Song
I think that's all. Which isn't very much. She wasn't on very long and she didn't do an encore. But other than the shortness of her set, it was perfect. Oh and also, she dedicated "Birmingham 1982" to Casey which was basically the most awkward thing ever because he was making lovey-dovey motions to her during the chorus and cracking her up. Then she said how she dedicated it to her sister once before and how that was even more awkward. So the drummer joked about her being from Alabama and incest and she was like, "I am from 'Bama" and it was so fucking cute. And doesn't make much sense when I try to explain it.
So then I waited around for awhile and ended up talking to her for about five seconds because she seemed in a hurry and it was already so late. I've kind of blacked out on everything I said but it wasn't much and basically amounted to "I love you so much! You were so good!" Stuff like that. But she was really nice and gave me a hug and signed my ticket stub (because that's all I had; I didn't think about having something for her to sign until that moment). So yay! And then we got out of there. And got home at 3:30. The End.
