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Saturday, December 04, 2004 · posted at 2:08 AM

Batmobile lost a wheel

Courtesy of my ever-benevolent roommate, I got to attend Star 100.7's Jingle Ball 2004 featuring a "star-studded" line-up. Star 100.7 is the "just this side of mellow" easy listening radio station for San Diego, playing the likes of Switchfoot, Avril Lavine, Lenny Kravitz, Norah Jones, U2 - your basic mix of top 40 with music Mom would like, too. This mega event was held at Cox Arena at SDSU (a venue so impressive that I pondered getting tickets to an Aztec game) and we had 11th row seats.

Line-up
Jamie Cullum
The on-the-verge-crooner of "These Are the Days" is a gifted singer, songwriter and pianist. Unfortunately his pre-ring Smeagol looks (see Smeagol, Jamie) may prevent superstardom in the beauty-obsessed States (his album twentysomething was the fastest selling album in the UK).

Alanis Morissette
Remember the songs from this angry 90's icon? Well so does she! Alanis played her popular hits from days of yore including Ironic, Thank You, Hands Clean and others I can't remember the name of, but was able to sing along to. I wonder how it feels to perform but be limited to your old hits. What if you've changed or evolved or are just tired of incorrectly defining irony? I suppose that's when you just hold the mic to the audience and let them do all the work. She was a great performer, but I could think was, "She went down on Dave Coulier in a theater!"

John Mayer
My first John Mayer live performance! He is every bit as good in person as he is in the studio… and on talk shows… and on the dvd… and in my dreams. We were close enough to see the weird facial contortions when he sang - it was like he was orgasming with every note! He played some cool bluesy stuff and of course, the crowd favorite – Your Body is a Wonderland.

William Hung
The boy has seriously overstayed his 15 minutes. As in, I've put his suitcase by the door and it's collected dust. Who decided to have him follow John Mayer and open for Sarah McLachlan? Did they purposely sandwich him between the best performers to make him look that much worse? Or did they think that the crowd would protest less if satiated by John Mayer and the knowledge that Sarah was up next? He sang She Bangs, but it somehow wasn't as fun without Karen's cousin crashing into the green screen behind him…

Sarah McLachlan
By far the best performer of the night. She's amazing. My love for her is fully renewed. The whole crowd was hushed (minus the drunk guy next to us) the moment she came on stage and started to sing. Twenty minutes was far too short a set for such a breath-taking singer. She only sang 4 songs, but one of them was Ice Cream (also known as original music played during scene with Ben and Felicity on the rooftop watching Charlie Chaplin).

Chris Isaak
He had one hit (Wicked Game, as though I had to tell you), yet a 40 minute set. In what dimension is that fair? Plus his set doubled as an army recruitment commercial. I admire that he was able to bring more holiday cheer to the arena than William Hung's rendition of "Oh Come All Ye Faithful," but to force people to look at that suit for 40 minutes straight? That's just torture. I've seen felt stockings that have better embroidery than that!

Duran Duran
Loved them in the 80's and 90's and admire their attempt at a comeback. Unfortunately I can't say anything about their performance because I didn't get that far. Chris Isaak scared us away. I couldn't take it. At least we beat the parking rush.

Other Notes

There were some empty seats next to us, but I chose not to move because I knew there was a puddle of beer on the floor. How did I know? My keen sense of smell? My spider-sense for spills? How about because I saw/heard/possibly felt the slightly inebriated woman spill the beer when she leaned over to introduce herself?

These compilation concerts always yield such an interesting crowd. You get 40 year olds screaming to Alanis that she "ROCKS!!!" and then you get blond sorority chicks all but flashing the stage.

Work like you don't need money, love like you've never been hurt, and dance like no one's watching must have been one eager audience member's mantra. There's something admirable about the way people put themselves out there and are just so uninhibited with their dance moves (thanks to the three wise men Johnny, Jim and Jack), but at the same time, there's something embarrassing about watching an Elaine in full force.



	Saturday, December 04, 2004 · posted at 2:08 AM Batmobile lost a wheel Courtesy of my ever-benevolent roommate, I got to attend Star 100.7's Jingle Ball 2004 featuring a "star-studded" line-up. Star 100.7 is the "just this side of mellow" easy listening radio station for San Diego, playing the likes of Switchfoot, Avril Lavine, Lenny Kravitz, Norah Jones, U2 - your basic mix of top 40 with music Mom would like, too. This mega event was held at Cox Arena at SDSU (a venue so impressive that I pondered getting tickets to an Aztec game) and we had 11th row seats. Line-up *Jamie Cullum* The on-the-verge-crooner of "These Are the Days" is a gifted singer, songwriter and pianist. Unfortunately his pre-ring Smeagol looks (see Smeagol, Jamie) may prevent superstardom in the beauty-obsessed States (his album twentysomething was the fastest selling album in the UK). *Alanis Morissette* Remember the songs from this angry 90's icon? Well so does she! Alanis played her popular hits from days of yore including Ironic, Thank You, Hands Clean and others I can't remember the name of, but was able to sing along to. I wonder how it feels to perform but be limited to your old hits. What if you've changed or evolved or are just tired of incorrectly defining irony? I suppose that's when you just hold the mic to the audience and let them do all the work. She was a great performer, but I could think was, "She went down on Dave Coulier in a theater!" *John Mayer* My first John Mayer live performance! He is every bit as good in person as he is in the studio… and on talk shows… and on the dvd… and in my dreams. We were close enough to see the weird facial contortions when he sang - it was like he was orgasming with every note! He played some cool bluesy stuff and of course, the crowd favorite – Your Body is a Wonderland. *William Hung* The boy has seriously overstayed his 15 minutes. As in, I've put his suitcase by the door and it's collected dust. Who decided to have him follow John Mayer and open for Sarah McLachlan? Did they purposely sandwich him between the best performers to make him look that much worse? Or did they think that the crowd would protest less if satiated by John Mayer and the knowledge that Sarah was up next? He sang She Bangs, but it somehow wasn't as fun without Karen's cousin crashing into the green screen behind him… *Sarah McLachlan* By far the best performer of the night. She's amazing. My love for her is fully renewed. The whole crowd was hushed (minus the drunk guy next to us) the moment she came on stage and started to sing. Twenty minutes was far too short a set for such a breath-taking singer. She only sang 4 songs, but one of them was Ice Cream (also known as original music played during scene with Ben and Felicity on the rooftop watching Charlie Chaplin). Chris Isaak He had one hit (Wicked Game, as though I had to tell you), yet a 40 minute set. In what dimension is that fair? Plus his set doubled as an army recruitment commercial. I admire that he was able to bring more holiday cheer to the arena than William Hung's rendition of "Oh Come All Ye Faithful," but to force people to look at that suit for 40 minutes straight? That's just torture. I've seen felt stockings that have better embroidery than that! Duran Duran Loved them in the 80's and 90's and admire their attempt at a comeback. Unfortunately I can't say anything about their performance because I didn't get that far. Chris Isaak scared us away. I couldn't take it. At least we beat the parking rush. Other Notes There were some empty seats next to us, but I chose not to move because I knew there was a puddle of beer on the floor. How did I know? My keen sense of smell? My spider-sense for spills? How about because I saw/heard/possibly felt the slightly inebriated woman spill the beer when she leaned over to introduce herself? These compilation concerts always yield such an interesting crowd. You get 40 year olds screaming to Alanis that she "ROCKS!!!" and then you get blond sorority chicks all but flashing the stage. Work like you don't need money, love like you've never been hurt, and dance like no one's watching must have been one eager audience member's mantra. There's something admirable about the way people put themselves out there and are just so uninhibited with their dance moves (thanks to the three wise men Johnny, Jim and Jack), but at the same time, there's something embarrassing about watching an Elaine in full force.	Recent Posts I am woman, hear me roar This week, Andy was fire... LORELAI: Do they not understand we are unapologeti... The perfect cup. Everything in life is a strugg... You think it's like this but it's really like this... 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