Aimee Mann, Employee of the Month

[vovat]

Last night was the Aimee Mann Christmas show in Glenside, which bethje and I attended. It was in a variety show format, with Aimee and others performing songs (mostly holiday-related ones, but with a few of Aimee's hits mixed in), with brief skits and comedy from Paul F. Tompkins (whom I mostly know from his frequent appearances on Countdown with Keith Olbermann) in between them. I thought some of Tompkins' monologues were a little too long, but he was pretty funny. At one point, they performed the Miser Brothers' song from The Year Without a Santa Claus, with Aimee as Snow Miser and Paul as Heat Miser. Aimee mentioned that she finds the Rankin-Bass stop-motion specials kind of creepy, and I know she's not alone in that opinion. There was also a video parody of A Christmas Carol, directed by Tim Heidecker of Tim & Eric fame, and starring several of the participants in the show, plus a cameo appearance by Michael Cera. Another guest at the actual show was Nellie McKay, whose promised presence was actually a large part of what convinced me to want to see the concert, since I'm really a bigger fan of hers than of Aimee's. (No offense intended to Ms. Mann, of course. Aimee, if you're reading this [1], I still love you!) Nellie wore a red corset for some of the songs, which was pretty much worth the cost of admission right there. [2] And I found out I'd been mispronouncing her last name, but I'm sure I'm not the only one to have done so. Anyway, it was a pretty cool show, and done without any openers or intermissions, which was a good thing.

[1] Because I'm SURE a celebrity like her has nothing better to do than to read reviews of her concert from random journals.
[2] I've always found it weird when people use that expression, as in "This book is worth it for that one picture!" or "That movie is worth seeing for this one scene!" If it were really just the one picture or scene, would anyone actually be willing to pay the same price as they would for the whole thing?

Comments

[colbyucb.livejournal.com]

At one point, they performed the Miser Brothers' song from The Year Without a Santa Claus, with Aimee as Snow Miser and Paul as Heat Miser. Aimee mentioned that she finds the Rankin-Bass stop-motion specials kind of creepy, and I know she's not alone in that opinion. There was also a video parody of A Christmas Carol, directed by Tim Heidecker of Tim & Eric fame, and starring several of the participants in the show, plus a cameo appearance by Michael Cera.

This entire chunk of words is the most amazing thing ever. I actually had the Miser Brothers' song in my head last night after reading your Santa Claus entry, even though you didn't specifically mention that movie.

And Tim Heidecker is the man.

[revme.livejournal.com]

I SO wanna see the Tim Heidecker video.

ALso.... how DO you pronounce "McKay"?

[vovat.livejournal.com]

It ends with a long I sound, rather than a long A sound.

[kevenn.livejournal.com]

I'm rather shocked that Michael Cera would deem a mere concert/show worthy of his performing presence. (grumble grumble @ Michael Cera holding out on the Arrested Development reunion movie.)

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Well, he wasn't actually AT the show, just in the video.

[colleenanne.livejournal.com]

Oh. I was almost jealous.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

So all the other celebrities wouldn't have been enough for you?

[colleenanne.livejournal.com]

Evidently not. And I don't know who those other people really are, with the exception of Nellie McKay.

But I love Arrested Development and Juno, hence my undying love for Michael Cera.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

And I don't know who those other people really are, with the exception of Nellie McKay.

You don't know who Aimee Mann is?

I actually mentioned all the celebrities I knew anything about. Also at the concert itself were Grant Lee Phillips, Amos Lee, and Morgan Murphy, but I wasn't familiar with them.