"Lovely Lovely" is my fave out of the two. It was the immediate standout for me when I picked up Man of My Dreams.

Mara said:

co-sign. She's arguably the most underappreciated artist in American music today.

Mara said:

co-sign. She's arguably the most underappreciated artist in American music today.

LUSH

That's the word I'm after!

papaaisaway said:

Her live experiences are just that. Totally.

Mara said:

nah. they're frustrating!

Mara said:

nah. they're frustrating!

magnificentsynthesizer said:

Why is that?

magnificentsynthesizer said:

She must save all the good for Cali because I've heard this complaint about her but have always had the most kick ass experiences. Excellent Excellent shows. Well, the Cookie tour she seemed high out of her mind but still, even though it was low key she still tore it up

magnificentsynthesizer said:

She must save all the good for Cali because I've heard this complaint about her but have always had the most kick ass experiences. Excellent Excellent shows. Well, the Cookie tour she seemed high out of her mind but still, even though it was low key she still tore it up

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

The best Meshell concert I've experienced was shortly after the release of Cookie in 2002 at The Roxy in West Hollywood.

I remember the music being so atmospheric and transporting it was magical. But everything was just right, the music, the acoustics, the Sound (it really depends on the venue) but if the sound is too loud, it just throws everything off.

Mara said:

• She always seems pissed off at the show and never engages the crowd. comes off as very arrogant and cold.
  
  
• Always playing new stuff you're not familiar with, which is cool, but throw a couple of old jams in the mix. i saw her at the HOB in Chitown and someone screamed out play If I That's Your Boyfriend and she replied "i'm 40 years old and you want me to play a song i wrote when i was 16?" WTF? i'm sure she'd love us to buy that album that song was on. i get the concept of wanting to keep moving forward and the past is the past blah blah blah, but personally, i feel it's totally disrespectful to a paying audience of fans.
  
  
• Stage production is terrible. i feel like i'm watching a bar band. i know things aren't that sweet when you're an independent artist, but she's been around long enough to add a little sparkle to her live performances. after seeing Erykah's stage setup and lighting, Meshell really has no excuse!
  
  
• The last couple of times i've seen her the band seemed unrehearsed. i could have sworn she was calling out chord changes to the guitar players in the middle of the set. Her last couple of show i've attended also seem rushed. i really didn't leave there feeling like i had any fun. though it is always good to see her in person.

Meshell you are not Miles Davis, get over yourself!

magnificentsynthesizer said:

You know what, I feel exactly where you're coming from, so I cannot disagree with your assessments. The thing is, I go to so many shows per year, I do go into shows with my own set of expectations: I have my songs I want to hear, I want some new stuff thrown in the mix that the artist is working on -- which is a treat for me.

A musician evolves. Sure, I wanna hear an oldie if I were a casual fan or just checking for a live Hits act. But Meshell is in a different school, I'm not one of those concert goers who wants a by-the-numbers reenactment of the hit single on stage. Change it up or don't bore me with it. In NYC alone she does about 6-9 shows per year. If I went to all those shows as a Meshell fan or loyalist, I would get tired my damn self if I had to hear "If That's Ya BF." I've seen her enough times to where I don't care if certain songs are overlooked. It would be different if I was going in with an all-or-nothing,you-best-to-impress-me-tonight-'cause-this-probably-my-only-time-seeing -you-in-this-decade vibe.

In the four times I've seen her, I've had varying degrees of what you listed. Sometimes she is really engaging, and sometimes it's like she's off on her own headtrip and we just happen to be in attendance. Sometimes the sound is just orgasmic and sometimes the acoustics sound like shit.

Overall, my experience with Meshell live has been mostly positive and transporting. Which kept me coming back those 4 times. If I wasn't feeling it, I wouldn't bother.

But I feel where you're coming from.

Is Mara going to be near me when I move to silverlake?....

LOVELY, LOVELY... adored it instantly, it's the best song on the album


& she's always been great live, the 5+ times I've seen her

CalhounSq said:

Over Soul Spaceship? No way.

Graycap23 said:

I HEAR YOU, Soul Spaceship is my shit too Maybe I'm overshooting "Lovely" as best on the album, but it's certainly my favorite. That shit just GETS ME where it hurts, I love it

Graycap23 said:

I HEAR YOU, Soul Spaceship is my shit too Maybe I'm overshooting "Lovely" as best on the album, but it's certainly my favorite. That shit just GETS ME where it hurts, I love it

magnificentsynthesizer said:

You know what, I feel exactly where you're coming from, so I cannot disagree with your assessments. The thing is, I go to so many shows per year, I do go into shows with my own set of expectations: I have my songs I want to hear, I want some new stuff thrown in the mix that the artist is working on -- which is a treat for me.

A musician evolves. Sure, I wanna hear an oldie if I were a casual fan or just checking for a live Hits act. But Meshell is in a different school, I'm not one of those concert goers who wants a by-the-numbers reenactment of the hit single on stage. Change it up or don't bore me with it. In NYC alone she does about 6-9 shows per year. If I went to all those shows as a Meshell fan or loyalist, I would get tired my damn self if I had to hear "If That's Ya BF." I've seen her enough times to where I don't care if certain songs are overlooked. It would be different if I was going in with an all-or-nothing,you-best-to-impress-me-tonight-'cause-this-probably-my-only-time-seeing -you vibe.

Plus, it's sort of disrespectful to an artist to expect them to play certain songs just because somebody is über-excited in the front row or drunk and is hollering out requests. Most artists already have a setlist in mind that they have rehearsed and pounded out just before that show starts. They have an idea of what they'd like to present to you before they go on stage -- in essence, a setlist is akin to a menu that a chef presents at a restaurant. Thought went into that list. It's rare for an artist to just deviate from their setlist and be like, "ok, y'all, dude in Row E he wanna hear this, so here we go[!]" As a ticketholder, I don't expect that.

In the four times I've seen her, I've had varying degrees of what you listed. Sometimes she is really engaging, and sometimes it's like she's off on her own headtrip and we just happen to be in attendance. Sometimes the sound is just orgasmic and sometimes the acoustics sound like shit.

Overall, my experience with Meshell live has been mostly positive and transporting. Which kept me coming back those 4 times. If I wasn't feeling it, I wouldn't bother.

...

CalhounSq said:

I love that little Witchy Poo synth that runs through the song

The only minus about having her perform in Amsterdam is she is always off her fucking rockers because of the weed. The one to last performance, all instrumental jazz performance (that DID rival Miles Davis' later day dance experimentation) was SO amazing I still wish I had a recording of it. Best thing I saw that year.
She did not really acknowledge the crowd, but it wasn't really necesary, as the music did all the talking well enough.

Then, a little while later she was back, guesting with a dub band that was SO bad and having Me'shell totally weirded out on weed wasn't helping. She stumbled and had to be led off stage. It made me worry for her.

Mara said:

• She always seems pissed off at the show and never engages the crowd. comes off as very arrogant and cold.
  
  
• Always playing new stuff you're not familiar with, which is cool, but throw a couple of old jams in the mix. i saw her at the HOB in Chitown and someone screamed out play If I That's Your Boyfriend and she replied "i'm 40 years old and you want me to play a song i wrote when i was 16?" WTF? i'm sure she'd love us to buy that album that song was on. i get the concept of wanting to keep moving forward and the past is the past blah blah blah, but personally, i feel it's totally disrespectful to a paying audience of fans.
  
  
• Stage production is terrible. i feel like i'm watching a bar band. i know things aren't that sweet when you're an independent artist, but she's been around long enough to add a little sparkle to her live performances. after seeing Erykah's stage setup and lighting, Meshell really has no excuse!
  
  
• The last couple of times i've seen her the band seemed unrehearsed. i could have sworn she was calling out chord changes to the guitar players in the middle of the set. Her last couple of show i've attended also seem rushed. i really didn't leave there feeling like i had any fun. though it is always good to see her in person.

Meshell you are not Miles Davis, get over yourself!