My boy, Ryan, hooked me up with Natalie Merchant tix saturday night (his review). Never mind that I had to preach the next morning. I like her work, but haven't owned any of her solo albums. I enjoyed it all, especially the songs I knew. My Palm notes from the evening (for you, gentle reader):

not one OU hat in the whole room.

blues-type lyrics

'she'll make her way'. people groovin' and happy. in my mind, heaven will be like that. and, for my part, i want to do some playing, learn to play guitar. make people happy.

nice that she's not emaciated, like so many divas.

southern, small town, religious background?

'when the day of judgment comes, they'll have to share their pretty things.'

carnival. let hair down. unbuttoned sweater. people standing spontaneously. not the ones you'd expect. what moved them? some were definitely getting off on Natalie.

very sensual. intentionally. not Brittney, but... body on display. still not much need for imagination (like this picture).