I saw Gavin DeGraw live for the first time last night at the Commodore. First of all, I love the Commodore. I've never been to a bad show there, and the sound is incredible. It's a small space, with capacity for only 1000, which makes it even better.
Here's the thing about concerts: I hate everyone around me, but only until the headliner comes on. Before then, people are drinking and being loud and obnoxious, literally running through the place. Some are trying to look cooler than they'll ever be (mean, but true). Just....a lot of annoying things going on. But when the lights go down and the headliner comes on, it's like everyone in that room is my best friend. Everyone's connected through the songs and we're all there for the same reason. It's an interesting shift that happens in a 30 second time span.
My old vocal coach once told me to 'make love to the microphone'. I had no clue what she meant by that. I was working on this really sultry jazz ballad, and she explained that the way you hold the mic will either add or take away from the mood you're trying to create. I kind of understood.
Most concerts I go to, the artist's hands are usually occupied by a guitar, so the mic is on a stand. Gavin was at the piano (which he's even better at playing than I thought), or standing with a guitar, but for about a third of the set, he held the mic in his hand and walked around the stage. I finally get what my old coach was saying. He didn't clutch the mic like most people. He held it....comfortably, as if it was an extension of himself. It was the most natural I've ever seen anyone holding a microphone. No white knuckles, no unnecessary finger tapping (Carrie Underwood/Christina Aguilera, I'm talking to you).
The entire show was incredible. Between songs, he'd just riff on a few lyrics, or sing some other people's songs. I get the feeling that's how he'd be in his own house (without sounding creepy). Just comfortable and singing for the sake of singing. Singing what you feel like and what you want to hear. There were lot of chill-inducing moments during this show. Goosebumps on the arms. I knew he'd do a sing along during I Don't Wanna Be, but it was not cheesy whatsoever. 900 people, hands in the air, singing I don't wanna be anything other than what I've been try'na be lately...? Can't go wrong.
The most memorable part of the show for me was him standing, guitar in hands. He stepped away from the microphone completely and continued singing, and his voice still filled the room. Just pure power. It made me want to sing again. Really sing: do the vocal exercises, the breathing, following proper technique (more so than I do now). And don't even get me started on what this concert did for my need to write.
Gavin has a few lyrics and lines that, standing alone, could be completely lame and cliché. But the way he puts them together with other lines and notes, makes them sound amazing. I think the mark of a great songwriter is being able to take something simple and make it sound complicated. And then there are phrases like 'Your eyes tell the lies of the lines that you said' that are amazing and make me wonder why my brain can't work like that. (The next line is 'now that I love you, I wish we'd never met'...which is equally as genius.)
Plus, he's definitely sexy...I'm just saying.
Now, courtesy of High Fidelity, this is how I feel...
Barry: I wanna date a musician.
Rob: I wanna live with a musician. She'd write songs at home and ask me what I thought of them, and maybe even include one of our little private jokes in the liner notes.
Barry: Maybe a little picture of me in the liner notes.
Dick: Just in the background somewhere.
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