norah at the living room

Tuesday’s workday went by like a blur. Laura and I actually got out on time and I met Anna in the middle of the street of Allen and Houston. We met up with Ken, Jenny, and Jason at The Living Room for an evening of Neil Young songs. I love The Living Room, reminds of the homey, cohesive vibe that we find at The East End and The Grape – though more chill and awesome musicians always pop in. It’s mostly sitdown and holds about 100 people comfortably. Plus it has an orange glow and Christmas lights. Jason was sitting in with a lot of the musicians as the “Shaky Tempos” band. Jason’s musicianship was definitely a highlight of the night.

Before the night began, we chatted it up at our table. Ken told Anna he had been playing the drums for a thousand years. Jason busted out his iPod and had Ken listen to Spoon for the first time. I think Ken’s reaction was, “this is the best thing ever!” Anna said it sounded like something I would say, and I have said that about Spoon. Ken also schooled me in Brooklyn living, September better watch out.

We saw a lot of talented musicians grace the stage and belt out Neil tunes. Some weren’t highlights. Like the guy who forgot the words. And the guy whose song took forever and he reminded me of Jack Black. I turned to Anna and asked her if she had ever seen “School of Rock”. We started laughing and couldn’t stop till the end of the song.

Miss Norah Jones was sitting at the table one over and one back from us. She looked completely normal with only a crowd of musician friends with her. She is much shorter than I imagined, probably around my height, I tried to gauge when she walked past me. Yes guys, only inches away from the Grammy winner ;-). She went up on stage and silenced the room with “Only Love Can Break Your Heart”, which may be my favorite Neil Young song, but only because Juliana Hatfield covers it. Her voice is pretty damn amazing. There is really nothing more that can be said about the night except for that is now one of my favorite five minutes of my life. I took a picture with my camera phone and once I figure out how to get it online, I will post.