"The Most Normal-Looking One"

I met Aimee Mann last night. I still can't believe how excellent the concert was and how extremely excellent meeting one of my favorite songwriters turned out to be. Earlier today I basked in the excitement of it all and hand-wrote over four pages (front and back) of potential blog about it. I have since decided that the whole story is unnecessarily long and overly detailed. Plus, I really don't need people thinking that I am a 10 year old girl who met Justin Timber-something (or whatever); because, I'm not... but I sort of come across that way when I tell the story. And, I've told the story a lot already.

Instead, here are some photographs that I took:





Aimee was absolutely awesome live! I love her songs and I can listen to her music for hours. It's mellow and her words are biting at times. It's often melancholy-ish, which I love. She is also quite sarcastic and cynical. Being so close to her, watching her sing and play, was exciting and inspirational. She is so focused on her songs while performing. It's incredible and something that I should work on.





By the last song, I was this close:





After the show, Stephanie and I waited by the tour bus (as we often do). We met Lisa there, who was waiting with her family and letting her daughters jump in a puddle. We talked about puddle jumping while being splashed by her excited daughters. We also talked about music and bands and places to perform. When Aimee came out to sign autographs, I took a picture of Lisa and her family with Aimee. It felt nice to do that.

When Aimee first got off her tour bus, she came up to me and said, "I remember you." And I stuttered. Eventually, I managed to say, "Of course, you do. You smiled at me... twice." And she had smiled at me twice during her last song. She said that I the most normal-looking one and that's why she smiled. Then, she went on to explain that there were some creepy dudes standing near the stage. We talked about one guy that I was standing near and who had yelled out, "Aimee, you're hot!" and how she and her band had nicknamed him "Rapey," to which I agreed that it was, indeed, an appropriate nickname.

Stephanie took a picture while Aimee signed my copy of Smilers:



Then, Stephanie took this one:



It was wonderful meeting Aimee (we are on a first name basis now since we've met, apparently). She was fun to talk with. I wish I had had more time to talk with her because I would have loved to learn about touring and performing and to hear her perspective on songwriting. I would love to have the opportunity to play a song of my own for Aimee -- not for the chance to advance my career or anything ridiculous like that -- just to share music with her. She's shared her songs with me. I'd like to return the favour.