Hi, I'm new to the board and Charlotte. I saw her for the first time at Schubas and had a FANTASTIC time! My husband Chris and I bought tickets the night before. I didn't realize how lucky I was since the show was sold out. Whew!

Chris got there early and got us seats in the front row. I just sat there mesmerized. I don't know why, but I expected someone very serious and staid. I have no idea where I got that impression. I was delighted to find that Charlotte was funny and goofy and silly and wonderfully adorable! I had a smile on my face nearly the whole time. I envy all of you who knew the songs and were already familiar with Charlotte, but everyone has to start sometime, right?

I loved her own songs, but was also stunned by her cover of Peter Gabriel's "Here Comes the Flood" because it's one of my favorite songs by him. Kate Bush is my main musical Goddess, and she's why I went to see Charlotte in the first place, because I had heard that Charlotte loved Kate. Hey, anyone who loves Kate is a friend of mine! I'd heard that Char covers a few Kate songs, so I was desperately hoping to hear one of them. Ah well, next time, maybe. Charlotte's own songs were wonderful enough. I certainly didn't come away disappointed. Quite the opposite!

I wanted to buy music and pins after the show, but the crowd was so big that I never got anywhere near the merchandise stand. When we were all hearded outside I found myself very close to her (sorry for all the people who were behind me, who had been in front of me inside). 

Meeting Charlotte was great. She was just as sweet as could be, and didn't seem put off at all by my unhip geezerness :). I had a thrill when I gave her a couple of CDs by another favorite artist of mine, Happy Rhodes. She said she'd heard of Happy but hadn't heard her music. She'd heard of Happy! You have to understand how amazing that is to me, because Happy is very very very obscure. I hope Charlotte likes the music, but she already made me one very pleased lady by mentioning that she'd heard of Hap. I'm still shaking my head in wonder.

I tried not to keep Charlotte too long because I knew there were a lot of people waiting. When we walked away I was thinking it was a perfect night. We decided to go across the street and eat at the Mexican restaurant. It wasn't by design, but we were seated with a clear view of the other side of the street. We kept looking over to see...yep, Charlotte's still there talking to people...still there....yep, still there...still there! It was great! Good for Charlotte. We were just finishing up eating when I finally saw Charlotte get into a van and be driven off.

I don't know how Tori is regarded here since I'm sure there are people who aren't happy with the comparisons, but I've been a Tori fan since Little Earthquakes (and I knew about her from her first, really awful, album because I got it for my then radio show). I couldn't help be reminded of Tori in a couple of ways. Not musically, but for one, the first time I saw Tori in concert was at that same venue, Schubas! Tori was by herself, playing an electric piano that kept  having problems, so she'd climb underneath it and mess with the cables, then get back up and play the next song. Later, when she was bigger but not yet a phenom, she did an in-store appearance at Rose Records in Chicago. The line was out the door, but she stayed for hours until every last person was taken care of. I think that was the last in-store she did, for years anyway. Char's going to be like that, I can tell. Fans are important to her. 

Forgive my rambling, but I am SO glad I went, and I'm sorry I missed other shows, though I am glad I saw her first headline show. Years from now I'll feel the same way I feel about seeing that Tori concert...very privileged to have been there.

I took some pictures. They're not very good, but here they are. If someone can't see them, please say something, because I'm testing this photo service and they don't seem to be consistant.

http://equipoise.quriophotos.com