I thought it would be fun to read descriptions of your first time seeing Regina in concert. I’m sure it is still a vivid experience for many of us. Give us the details on the experience and what you remember seeing, hearing and feeling. Where were you? When was it?

Or give us a link to your post after you first saw her.

Also tell of the first time you met Regina, if you have. And if you’ve never seen her, don’t worry, your day will come! And it’s worth being patient for. I saw her Tuesday for the first time after 3 years of being a fan. And it was all I ever thought it would be

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Reginaoverdose,

WARNING: Longest post, ever

Okay now for a description of my first time seeing her. It’s going to be really detailed… since it's so fresh in my memory.
When? October 6th 2009. Where? Atlanta, at the Tabernacle.

I was SO darn excited since I bought the tickets 2 weeks earlier, but the morning of the concert brought my excitement to a whole new level. I binged (as usual) on reg’s music and danced around in my dorm making involuntary noises while uncontrollably smiling. OH Thank God my roomate understands my love and obsession for Regina! I think she fully comprehended it after I spent 4 or 5 hours working on the shirt I would wear that night. My last class got out at 11 and I was skipping a later class. The two girls I would be going with didn’t get out until 2 so that’s when we decided to leave. I go to UNC at Greensboro with these 2 girls, fellow dance majors. One lives in Atlanta and has seen reg before so we were set to go. Now of course these two girls love regina, but not nearly on the level I do. They have SK, BTH, and Far but don’t know all of the songs from these albums. But I was SO grateful to be going and ecstatic when the driver said (when we bought the tickets) that we were going to wait after to meet regina! I was dead set on meeting her, of course after long thought, still not knowing what I would ever say to her if I could even get some words out. Reality was setting in and it was time to go! My roomate then jokingly/non-jokingly told me not to drop dead tonight from excitement. We left at 2 o’clockish and arrived in Atlanta at 7:15. Of course I wish I could have gone with my little sister or one of my best friends who would have loved to talk about regina the whole ride there and get there super early, not to mention we could have listened to regina the whole ride there. I feel like I had to hold back my weird reactions to my excitement sometimes because they were nowhere on my level of anticipation and they were definitely thinking I was a bit strange.

When we arrived we parked and I was sad we were there so late (knowing me I would have wanted to show up 2 hours early to make sure I secure myself a front row standing place). The Tabernacle is truly a gorgeous venue. I went in jumping around like an idiot and we stood there waiting for the show to start. We were far back and I kept thinking how much I wanted to push my way to the front. We slowly crept up a bit while the lighting guy messed with the lights and Bjork’s "Hunter" played on the loudspeakers. Reality still hadn’t hit in yet that regina would be there, live and in front of me. The opening band wasn’t bad but it seemed like they played forever. OH MY GOD, it was over and Regina was up next! After waiting for them to set up the stage, which also seemed like forever, the lights finally darkened and out she came. I don’t really know what I first though, I was just overwhelmed and then I remember thinking how she’s somehow even more beautiful in person than in pictures. She was in black flats, a sequenced black shirt and dark jeans The crowd cheered and I when she sat and started playing the first notes of The Calculation I lost it. I cried! Happy tears of course. I just couldn’t believe it was happening, there she was!!!

My friend realized I was crying and turned around and snapped a pic of me and let me tell you, it’s priceless. I might (might) share it with you all when she uploads it. It’s hideous. Then she played eet and as I promised my friend, I called her and let her listen in to it and then Folding Chair. OH I had bought brand new batteries for my (crappy) camera before the show and I kept trying to use my camera and IT WOULDN’T WORK AT ALL. So that was really upsetting but I just continued watching in awe. When ode to divorce started playing, I freaked and called my sister who basically listened in on the rest of the show over the phone. I did my senior solo to this so it holds lotsa memories. She played a few more songs from far and the freakin crowd kept talking louder and louder. Pissing me off. She stood up to play Silly eye color generalizations and near the end told the audience to "SHUT THE FUCK UP" Thank God. It worked for a little bit. Then during Bobbin for apples she forgot the lyrics, said fuck, and restarted saying that she "must have left her brain back in west Virginia"

I wasn’t expecting her to play The Sword and the Pen at all. AT ALL. So when the first few notes rang out, it sounded unfamiliar. Then when I realized it, I teared up again. It was beautiful and such a treat to hear live. Then after Ballad of a Politician and Man of a Thousand Faces, the main set was over and she said her cute little "Thank you" and left but of course (im guessing this always happens) the crowd cheers for a few minutes non-stop and she came out and sang some of the well-knowns. The lighting during Samson was amazing, the whole venue appeared to be a starry night! Then I literally rocked out to love you’re a whore and couldn’t help but to sing along. When it was over It felt like a dream and it still kinda does.

The 2 girls I was with were hungry because we hadn’t eaten a meal all day. So they went to get food and gas and I decided to wait near the bus, just in case she came out before they got back. OMG, A girl who looked SO much like regina was waiting too. I’m sure you guys would have though so. She had the same hair and color and curls, the same big perfect smile and nose and she had red lips too. Overall she was a less pretty version of her but everyone around was freaking out at the resemblance, calling her regina number 2. While waiting alone (everyone else was in groups) a guy came up to me and he was really nice, we had a good chat about reg and other bands and life topics. Although, it was soooooooOOOO hard to focus because I was about to meet Regina! Then one of the girls came back, it was about 12 and said that the other girl was in the car waiting and we HAD to go NOW. I basically gave her the look of hell no and dragged out the conversation for about 20 minutes until she said she would literally just leave me here. Of course I begged, and pleaded, gave her the guilt trip and told her that I would be upset if I couldn’t just wait 30 more min to see her. But she left me and got the car and I had no choice but to go I was pretty damn upset, as you can imagine. The car ride back left me sad and I later found out she came out about 30 minutes later…
We ended up getting back to UNC Greensboro at like 5 or 6 am, and I have class at 8! I got back and didn’t sleep but I wrote a paper that was due the next day and skipped my 8am class and went to my 930 and all of my others which eventually left me free at 5, but I had tons of work to do so I ended up sleeping at 1am haha. Which is the longest I think I could ever go without sleep but it was SO WORTH IT.

Seeing her was better than I ever thought it would be!!! I'm so happy I had the oppurtunity. I just wish my camera worked and the girls I was with let me stay and meet her like they promised... But there you go, my first time seeing regina. AMAZING.

Setlist: (not the exact order though)

1. The Calculation
2. Eet
3. Folding Chair
4. Ode to Divorce
5. Machine
6. Laughing With
7. One More Time With Feeling
8. Two Birds
9. Blue Lips
10. On the Radio
11. Dance Anthem of the 80s
12. Silly Eye-Color Generalizations
13. Bobbin' for Apples
14. That Time
15. Apres Moi
16. Poor Little Rich Boy
17. The Sword and The Pen
18. Ballad of a Politician
19. Man of a Thousand Faces
Encore:
20. Samson
21. Us
22. Fidelity
23. Hotel Song
24. Love, You're a Whore

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Reginaoverdose,

That's pretty disappointing that you didn't get to meet her after you were prepared to wait, but regardless, it's great that you got to see her live!

I went to my first Regina concert two years ago. I don't remember a lot of details - my memory is sort of horrible - but my mom and my sister and I got to stand at the very front. We got lucky - we were standing close to the front at first, but all three of us are so short that we couldn't barely see the stage because everyone was taller than us. But these two guys standing at the very front saw us and traded spots with us...it was so nice!

It took forever to start though. I remember they played that song by CSS (or whatever that band was called) that was popular at the time, that they used in that iPod Touch commercial...yay for random memories. We were standing there for so long, but I was lucky because I could at least lean against that rail in front of the stage. The concert was supposed to start at 7, but no lie, Only Son didn't come out to perform until 9 o'clock. I remember being so relieved to see him (performing up there with his iPod ) that I was thinking, "I'm going to buy his CD when this is over with." I don't remember how long he played, but we had to wait a long time after he finished before Regina came out, but when she did I remember thinking she looked like a superhero. I'm not sure what brought the word "superhero" to mind, but she did look gorgeous. This is the dress she was wearing:

(That picture's not mine and it's not even from the show I went to, but I found it on Google...at the time I didn't have a digital camera, and my pictures didn't turn out good, so I didn't bother scanning them onto my computer.)
The whole time Regina was playing I could hardly believe I was in her presence. I thought about her whole "history," growing up in Russia and moving to New York, and I thought about all those songs she had written - I was thinking, "I can't believe I am in the same room as the woman whose voice I listen to on my iPod!" Seriously, I was starting to wonder if I was dreaming.
And of course Regina sounded like an angel. Even my sister, who doesn't like Regina much, admitted she sounds better live than in the studio.
Anyway, I remember I brought a pen with me, and I wrote the abbreviated titles of the songs she played all over my left arm. I still have the setlist saved on a file on my computer:

Ain't No Cover
On the Radio
The Flowers
One More Time with Feeling
Baby Jesus
Better
Sailor Song
Poor Little Rich Boy
Music Box
Bobbing for Apples
That Time
Apres Moi
Small Town Moon
Summer in the City
Ghost of Corporate Future

Encore:
Us
Fidelity
Hotel Song (with Only Son)
Samson

I was really embarrassed when Regina played Sailor Song because I knew my mom would be mad that she kept singing the word "bitch"...but luckily she didn't catch the whole "fucking to one of my songs" in Bobbing for Apples, which I think would have offended her more.

After the show everyone crowded up to the front area of the room where all the merchandise was. Jack Dishel was up there, and I bought his CD like I had planned. He even signed it and took a picture with me! I turned out looking horrible in the picture, but it was still cool.
BUT. I didn't even buy a shirt. Stupid stupid stupid! The reason I didn't was that I knew my dad (who drove us to Houston but didn't go to the concert...he and my two younger sisters went to our aunt's house, because she lives in Houston) would be tired because it was really late by that point, huge amounts of people were crowding around the purchasing area, and he had to drive us all the way back home. Which reminds me...there was a douchebag at the show who was standing next to my mom and kept pushing her so he could see Regina better. He was like, "I came here all the way from Louisiana, so I DESERVE TO BE AT THE VERY FRONT!" What a dick.

All in all, though, what an experience! I feel lucky that I got to see Regina live at that age (I was 14), and back when she didn't typically have someone playing drums/whatnot. It was just her and the piano...so magical.

Afterthoughts:
Here's this video from when she played Poor Little Rich Boy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GTjUMKyRf8

Man, it was hilarious, but again - her swearing pissed off my mom.
Regina: "Who would write such a song? It's fucking bullshit!"

Also, I think when she was playing Baby Jesus, people were being loud and disrespectful, and she said something along the lines of, "Shut the fuck up. Either shut up or go to the bar and get drinks on me." I love how straightforward she is.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Rosa!,

Rosa, I adore that video. Like one of my favorites ever, ever.

Thanks for posting on this Alicia! That kinda sucks about your camera and your slightly lame friends. But I'm sure, looking back, it doesn't even matter because Regina was amazing and totally worth it. It's just incredible the range of emotions she can produce of the course of a set and over the course of many sets. Next one will be different, but just as special.

As for me-
First time seeing regina live.
First time meeting reginka

quote:

Originally posted by dentistgirl:
First time seeing regina live.

Aw...I really enjoyed reading that. That was sweet!

ha.. This isn't very detailed, but this is what I posted when I first saw Regina.

My first Regina show

The first time I saw her was at the Beacon, and she was amazing, and the audience happened to be phenomenal, so it was fantastic.

She creates such a magic atmosphere, and everyone is drawn in to this little light in the center of the universe that is Regina, and nothing else exists, and you know that the people around you are experiencing it too. That enchanted silence, like the entire audience is holding their breath. I cried and laughed and was generally a basket case, but my goodness I loved every second of it.

Meeting a bunch of stixers and Regina was the icing on the cake. It was such a perfect evening already, and that just pushed it over the edge.

I just wish I had found this amazing woman sooner.

quote:

Originally posted by Rosa!:


Afterthoughts:
Here's this video from when she played Poor Little Rich Boy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GTjUMKyRf8
"

I just watched that and I fell in love a little bit more.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: almostspotless,

Love that clip! =)

OK. Here are parts of a conversation I had with a friend after my first time seeing reg live =)

Where? Hultsfred Festival, Sweden When? July 9th

"Oh man.

What can I say? Can't believe it really happened. Can't believe I have videos and pictures of her that I took myself. Can't believe I was so close to her.

Now I know: she is for real. She does exist (not just a perfect dream), and she is more amazing in concert than ever on CD or youtube. It's such a difference hearing her voice while she is actually singing and not through earphones or a computer even if it's live recordings. She's so in control of her voice.

How can she even be?

OK. I was in the front row. (I was on the screen :P) The stage was a bit high so I would probably have seen better a couple of rows back, but now I had no heads in the way (except for a security guy). I was totally smashed because of all the people. I couldn't move at all. Stuck to the security- eehh...how to say? Fence...? whatever. You know what I mean. But it didn't matter. She was wonderful and beautiful and perfect.

She was wearing black. Skirt, sweater with long sleeves and a top with black spangles. Her hair parted down the middle, red lips. of course.

She played what you would expect; songs from Far, the hits from BTH and then Poor Little Rich Boy, Us and Bobbin for apples.

The Calculation, Eet, Time is all around(!!!), Folding chair, Blue lips, Machine, Laughing with, One more time with feeling(which was amazing!!!), That time, On the radio, samson, fidelity, Après moi and the three I mentioned earlier.
Not Human of the Year though...sadly.

They had her keyboard set up before the concert, but one hour before the start they took it down. So no Dance Anthem.

And you know? When she said "Thank You" a bunch of times it got quite quiet and I said "NO, thank YOU!" - and she looked directly at me and smiled. For several seconds. I swear. That moment. Oh God."

also, later I shouted "WE LOVE YOU!!" and she was like: "No, WE love YOU!" (!!!!!!!)

"It was raining "cats and dogs" during Us and Samson, and that actually created a faint rainbow above her head ( which I noticed while looking through my pictures). Could barely hear a word during Samson, cause several of thousands of people sang along(ok maybe not thousands of people, but still), but it was alright. The smile and surprised expression on her face made up for it.

It was awesome. The only bad things were a group of annoying guys behind me who shouted "marry me! marry me! marry me!" in between all songs, so we couldn't hear much when she introduced her band ( cello, violin, drum set) and spoke. But she didn't speak much. and also one more bad thing: the fact that it didn't go on forever.

When she stepped out on stage my heart stopped. She sat down. We screamed. She shouted "A huge ginormous TACK to all of you!" (means thank you. she was so sweet trying to speak swedish...) And from that moment the world stopped and time didn't start ticking again until she left.

No extra songs when we tried to applaud her back. She doesn't do that, does she?

Well, much to read but hey it's Regina Spektor."

(now I know she does come back quite often for an encore )

"I've got abstinence. I Need to see her again. And again and again. And maybe some day, when I've stood in the front row for years, she will recognize me :P ah well. a dream is a dream.

Yeah, it feels like I know her too. But after Thursday's show I feel like I know her less. It's like a whole new dimension of this (healthy) obsession.

I feel like I missed part of it because I took so many photos. But during some songs I put the camera down and said to myself "Come on Em. Here she is. Live it. Enjoy it. Feel it." I started crying during Laughing with. And that song never really touched me that much before. I need to go back... Why can't I? Sometimes we should be like machines... save and rewind.

Oh, what did she play when she came back?? It didn't feel finished for us either, but then people came out and removed the mics and stuff. And I stood there screaming "HUMAN OF THE YEAR!!!" but no...

She always think that her piano is too loud she said that at the Sweden show too. And there will always be annoying people in the crowd. It was so annoying that many people in the first rows were actually waiting for The Killers who played an hour later. Ruiners..."

----
She played at a festival, as I said, and you weren't supposed to be able to come for that one day. But I called the person in charge and convinced him to sell me a one-day-ticket. I also got a backstage-passport, but no US-artists came there. I met one Swedish artist whose show I was at the same day (Maia Hirasawa).

When I came to the stage there were no room in the front row... I panicked inside, but started to talk to the people standing there and made friends with them so they managed to squeeze me in ! (they were waiting for the killers...so I was actually really mad at them for taking the front row)

It was so amazing... two more shows this year! Best year ever: reg's new album, three live shows... and getting to meet her...? I hope I will. I SO wish for it to happen.

ah well. Maybe you read all this, maybe you didn't...but now it's stuck in cyber space forever.. moahahaha.

...ok. I'm tired.

edit: my videos here

quote:

Originally posted by sweetness in my lungs:
It's such a difference hearing her voice while she is actually singing and not through earphones or a computer even if it's live recordings. She's so in control of her voice.

I know what you mean! I've thought the exact same thing.

quote:

And you know? When she said "Thank You" a bunch of times it got quite quiet and I said "NO, thank YOU!" - and she looked directly at me and smiled. For several seconds. I swear. That moment. Oh God."

also, later I shouted "WE LOVE YOU!!" and she was like: "No, WE love YOU!" (!!!!!!!)

That's so funny!

quote:

It was so amazing... two more shows this year! Best year ever: reg's new album, three live shows... and getting to meet her...? I hope I will. I SO wish for it to happen.

That would be radical if you got to meet her. Good luck!

Ohhh sigh I hope my parents still let me see Regina...... Alicia I will probably do the same as you did....pretty much go insane from excitement...I wrote out a speech and I am proposing things to my parents to give up in order to see Regina in concert. I am gonna try my hardest to see Regina....I dont know what I will do with myself if I cant see her...... Wish me luck guys.

Good luck Brady, I really hope they'll let you go to the concert.

I first saw her at Bridge School benefit concert in 2007.......

The lineup was marginal to me (seeing as I didn't really know who Tom Waits was) but after I saw she was gonna be there, I HAD to go. She only got to play a few songs, but played an awesome version of Ghost of Corporate Future, "...never ever watch the 10 o'clock news, ESPECIALLY FOX!" and i wanted to cry hearing samson for the first time live haha

and I saw her at Outsidelands '08 (where we definitely made eye contact during Bobbin for Apples haha im so lame) where i held back tears during OMTWF. i was SO close to her and took tons of pictures and videos which my evil camera erased making me want to cry yet again! then next at the El Rey in LA this summer, not as moving but still great

what I would have given to live in NY while she was on the up...... sigh

The first time I ever saw Regina in concert was the Begin To Hope Tour at the Norva in Norfolk,Virginia. I flew there alone from New York took the next early morning flight home because I had to work the next day. The show was amazing! I was right in front to the left of the stage so I had a perfect view. I didn't stay after because I didn't know she greets fans who wait....fck!! But I have met her twice since then (Record Store Day, and McCarren Park). I just saw her this past Saturday, (I was at the dress rehearsal of SNL-thanks to a friend who works for the show!) AND although I don't have tix to see the Radio city show I do have a tix for the afterparty at Aspen! See you there people-SO EXCITED!!

Warsaw in Brooklyn, Begin to Hope. Plastered on Polish beer, took a kid I was living
with in Harlem, 15, 250 lb, my surrogate son who tolerated her in my room often.
I stood there and cried during Field Below while he sat in the lounge where the food
was all night and talked to the opening band. Radio City tomorrow! No doubt
Blue Lips will bring me to my knees. Anyone bringing a mop?

quote:

Originally posted by RaelNYC:
I stood there and cried during Field Below while he sat in the lounge where the food
was all night and talked to the opening band. Radio City tomorrow! No doubt
Blue Lips will bring me to my knees. Anyone bringing a mop?

Welcome RaelNYC, oooooooh I enjoy the way you write. I'll bring the mop if you promise to stay around the stix and keep postin'