She Didn't Steal Your Boyfriend!
Posted by: steve | From: September 22, 2005
Earlier this evening, I was treated to a rare pleasure, the very enjoyable mainstream pop concert. Ashlee Simpson started her I Am Me tour tonight in Portland at the Roseland. This is one of "way too long before the album comes out mildly a secret but not really a secret pump up tours." The lack of promotion combined with the 35 dollar ticket price (thank you zac pennington and your sweetest hook up) made the show awkwardly unattended. The Roseland was only about half full, so we were able to get pretty close without having to be the gross older dudes pushing preteens out of the way. The crowd that was there was amped (very) young ladies (by amped I mean screaming), some parents off to the side, a few curious older folks (and by older i mean mid 20s), and that awesome punk couple in front of us who seemed to hate Ashlee (comp tickets, i assume).
Ashlee and her band played a short (and by short I mean short and sweet) set of tunes from her first album and maybe 3 new jams. I loved the very pumped bass player (it was possibly his first show with the band) who wanted very much to do that thing where a drummer and bassist totally get deep eye contact and jam so hard with each other, but was impeded by the awkward plexiglass cage that surrounded the drummer. Speaking of Mr. Drums, he was also very rad, singing along to every song even though he had no mic (who knew anyone in the band loved those songs so much?). Also, the band did these instrumental passages between most of the songs while Ashlee was offstage for about a minute, that were surprisingly ambitious and somehow entertaining.
Historically, I have been a big Ashlee fan, finding her sincere faux popstar punk to be quite charming, and really enjoying her radical naivity on her reality show. Eight months ago or so she started bumming me out pretty hard with her reactions to her scandals (blaming the nice drummer), by dating that lame-o Ryan Cabrera,, and just sorta by getting less faux punk. This show made me like her more, not really due to her being an amazing performer, or too nice for words or anything (she was at times charming and legit, but not overwhelmingly so), but more because the whole show seemed a bit sad (poor attendance) and like an excuse for Papa Joe, who is maybe the worst man on the planet, to use his daughter to pimp his new products. The opening band, Barefoot, is Papa Joe's first signing on his new label (Papa Joe Records) and we thankfully missed them. Ashlee's new keyboardist is also another signing of Dark Father's and he got to perform two songs in the middle of Ashlee's set. They were not good songs.
The show was fun. There is nothing better than hearing the hits, the great new single, a new song that didn't sound good, another new song that sounded great, and feeling bad for a pop star.
The video below has a snippet of "Pieces of Me" and then the entire new single "Boyfriend." (Click on image for video)
I wish that Zac had +3's for these shows. Color me left-out.
Posted by: Rachael at September 22, 2005 8:37 AM
She seems to be doing a faux-mildly-Gwen Stefani impression?? A little bit. Different, but a little bit.
It looks awesome. Thank you for the video.
Posted by: Mr. Petereson at September 22, 2005 10:18 AM
Woah, what is with that plexiglass barrier? Doesn't the guy from Mission of Burma with the severe tinnitus have one of those? Is it to shield sound from Ashlee's ears? Confused.
Posted by: matt at September 22, 2005 10:36 AM
full band in-ear monitors. So weird. So many awesome audience members. totally Ecstasy pt. II.
Posted by: zac at September 22, 2005 12:06 PM
i am feeling this so hard. i'm so glad you guys were there.
Posted by: Jac at September 22, 2005 8:28 PM
She totally sang. No syncs. There were some possible backing tracks.
I think the plastic shield is to make the drum sound more "manageable" and easier to mic and not so loud for the rest of the band. It's totally dumb.
Posted by: Steve Schroeder at September 23, 2005 3:30 PM
this was superb.
but what is going on with the drummer's plastic prison? who is he, magneto?
Posted by: todd at September 26, 2005 1:40 PM
Post a comment:
I'm glad you had a great time.
Was she lip synching?
Posted by: Cory at September 22, 2005 6:35 AM