Lion of Ido - The Sad Cafe, Plaistow NH 12.11.2010

I was pretty thrilled when this show was announced as I was very surprised in the best way when I saw Lion of Ido open for Ryan Star in Boston back in June. They'd been doing some shows in NYC, but never when I could get down there to see them, so when they booked a show about 45 minutes from me, I jumped at the chance to go. It was also the day of my mom's holiday party, but I was able to do both things. I met up with Brooke at the venue around 7, in which we walked in and saw the band hanging out in the lobby. We said hi and then decided since they weren't going on for about an hour or so since a bunch of local bands were also playing, that we'd go get coffee and come back - she also had no cash so that was a stop that we needed to make.

Better Than Ezra - Paradise Rock Club 12.9.10

I won tickets to see Better Than Ezra play at Paradise when they were in town a couple of weeks ago, and while I was hesitant to go since it was a last minute thing - I couldn't find anyone who would go with me, and I didn't know anyone there - I'm glad I did. I was also interested to see the renovated Paradise. I had been there earlier in the year to see a different show and hadn't been back since they'd reopened. I like Paradise a lot - even though its 850 capacity, it still feels really intimate - plus its in a great location in Boston and very easy to get to. Its easily one of my favorite music venues. Doors for the show were at 8, as the show was at 9, so I arrived about 20 minutes after doors opened, picked up my tickets and headed in. There was a good crowd of people already in front of the stage and I started out third 'row' for the opener.

Josh Groban - Christmas in Rockefeller Center VIDEO

Josh performed at the tree lighting in Rockefeller Center last night and it was so good to see him back on my tv. He performed a beautiful rendition of Bells of New York, off of Illuminations, and it really could be released as a holiday song - I hope it is. I think I love this song more after I've heard him perform it live. Check out the video after the jump.