Do More 24 DC - Thursday, June 6

The United Way of the National Capital Area reached out to me to help spread the word about their Do More 24 fundraising event. It's a 24-hour give-athon starting at 12 a.m. on Thursday, June 6, and organizations like Wegmans are chipping in, donating 100,000 pounds of food to area foodbanks. And if you donate at least $24, Uber is matching that by giving out $24 vouchers to the first 1,000 existing customers and any new customer. There are a ton of events on Thursday too, see the whole list here. The dress-up-your-pet contest appeals to me, even though I don't have a pet as of yet. One of my best friend's first jobs was with the United Way, so I know they are doing great work in communities, and I wanted to give this a shout out.

Tunes Tuesday, "Long Time Coming," The Delays

Bringing you back to 2004 with today's song by Brit band The Delays. Remember this one? When I studied abroad in London in 2005, we didn't have Internet in our dorm, a fact which seems laughable today. We'd go to the public library to write emails, and I would check out dozens of CDs, rip them to my computer and return them. That's where I discovered this song, and there's something so perfect about the intro/chorus. it seems meant for a sunshine-y day like today.

New Hair Cut: The Modern Long Bob or "Lob"

So ​before I went to Coachella, I almost dyed my hair pink! In fact, my stylist attempted to dye it pink, but for some reason it didn't take. Maybe God was watching out for me. It would've been subtle, I swear. She suggested doing an ombre baby pink on the ends, and it would've been cute. But maybe that's a lot of look for me, so perhaps its for the best.

​The pink might not have worked out, but I did get a new haircut. My hair was the longest it's ever been, and it was driving me crazy. I feel like the long bob is having a moment (or the lob, if you will), so I found some inspirational images to show my stylist. Check it out below (oh hey, rocker Taylor!).

Image sources: Taylor​, Miroslava, Alexa, tutorial from amazing stylist blog She Lets Her Hair Down

​I like how it turned out a lot, but I can't make it look as good as my stylist did. That's always the case though. I'll post a picture when I can get my act together. Also, the past few weeks I've been itching to go a lot shorter (oh hey, Michelle Williams pixie crop!).

What do you think of the long bob? What hair trend are you feeling lately?​

Father John Misty in Concert

Just posting a quick picture from the fourth row or so at Thursday's Father John Misty 9:30 Club show. I might sound like a Father John Misty superfan at this point.

I went to Brightest Young Things today to read about how awesome the show was, and instead I was left scratching my head at this review. ​The Post's review was less obtuse, of course, but even more withering. I just feel like they missed the point. From my vantage point (fourth row), the man puts on a show that's plenty entertaining. That includes the dance moves, laugh-out-loud banter, and vocal chops. He's charming, and that's not the case for a lot of indie acts. And I actually like the album, the writing is memorable. Maybe everyone needs to take it less seriously.

But then again, I am a super fan.

PS - No one mentioned this in the reviews, but Tillman talked about playing the 9:30 Club in front of 50 people and it looking like a performance art installation of what failure looks like. Ha! Now he is selling out shows...

My Coachella Playlist

Finally, a post about the music we heard at Coachella Week 2! We managed to see about 40 bands in three days. OK, some of those were for like 10 minutes, but still I add it to the tally. Emily did the calculations, and she says it works out to about $8 a band. Ha, a bargain! But really, nearly everyone who is touring this summer hits Coachella so it is a worthwhile investment.

This is mainly for my own edification, but here is a list of everyone we heard. In the grid, you'll see a few pictures I took from the shows.

Friday: You Me & Us, IO Echo, Lord Huron, Youth Lagoon, The Shouting Matches, Stars, Divine Fits, Of Monsters and Men, Local Natives, Beach House, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Band of Horses, Jurassic 5, Tegan and Sara.

Saturday: Kids These Days, Wombats, Guards, Shovels & Ropes, Wild Nothing, Savages, 2 Chainz, Bat for Lashes, Major Lazer, Grizzly Bear, The Postal Service, The XX, Janelle Monae, Sigur Ros, Phoenix

Sunday: Smith Westerns, DIIV, Jessie Ware, Thee Oh Sees, Grimes, The Lumineers, Tame Impala, La Roux, Father John Misty, Red Hot Chili Peppers.​

​We basically had our schedules out constantly, always on the move to the next show. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the stages were close enough together that you could check out half of one set and half of another. 

​Just a few obvious observations:

• ​You realize just how talented these folks are, in that they can not only write a fantastic song, but play it in the desert in front of thousands of people in 90 degree heat. That isn't easy. 
• It was interesting to see 2 Chainz on 4/20, that's for sure.
• Smith Westerns are soo young. They looked like they were in 8th grade, tops. ​
• ​Karen O is a force of nature, especially when she's wearing a gaudy yellow suit.
• The Red Hot Chili Peppers really should have a special guest or brought something surprising to the table. I guess that's the problem with week 2: we found their set list online and followed along and they played the exact same songs.​
• Lord Huron and Wild Nothing's albums will be my new chill summer soundtrack.​
• ​La Roux has a new album coming out!
• Jenelle Monae, why are you not more famous? She is an electrifying performer, and she can really crowdsurf!​
• After seeing Father John Misty, we immediately bought tickets to see him again. He's going places. In fact, today's DC show sold out. I hope his stage banter is just as funny and charming as was in Coachella. He had a great riff about girls wearing floral crowns needing to have a more hippy attitude.

​And I made a Spotify playlist with my favorite songs from some of the bands I saw at Coachella. I'm excited about this, I hope you check it out if you are in need of some tunes today! And click here for all of my Coachella 2013 Week 2 posts. 

Tunes Tuesday, "Joy to You Baby," Josh Ritter

When an unexpected trip came up, my friend Jason was nice enough to give me his tickets to Josh Ritter's sold-out show on Friday. And that's how I ended up seeing Josh Ritter in concert for the third time. I love his songwriting so, so much and you can tell he loves performing. He is the smile-est dude ever. I wondered though, since he just put out a "divorce" record, would he still be as smiley?

Joy To You Baby is the first single off of Josh Ritter's new album, The Beast In Its Tracks, out now. Check out Josh's 2013 tour dates now at http://www.joshritter.com

The answer is yes! Joe said he looked like the Joker, haha, and I did imagine his face cracking from smiling so much. I think he can't help ​smiling. Even the man's divorce record has a veneer of niceness, as seen in this track off "The Beast in its Tracks." And his shows are so much fun, how could you not smile? That's what selling out two nights in a row will do.