L-O-L-A, Lola

Two weeks ago, I posted a picture of a post-spaghetti western, pre-Dirty Harry Clint Eastwood for an essay in which I compared the allure of foody/gourmand fragrances to a “fatal attraction”. The reason I chose Clint instead of Glenn Close, the notorious bunny-boiler from the 80s classic Fatal Attraction, was because I think Clint´s ill-fated encounters with Jessica Walter in Play Misty For Me are far more terrifying than Michael Douglas´ trysts with Ms. Close. However, Jessica Walter doesn´t harm any small defenseless animals with her butcher knife; just an unsuspecting housekeeper and a well-meaning police detective.

kinks60sThis week, I´ve fallen even deeper down the retro rabbit hole by digging up another “moldy oldie”: the song, “Lola”, by The Kinks. I´m not going to compare a ditty written about an encounter with a transvestite to a new fragrance, but ever since I heard about Marc Jacobs´ newest addition to his eponymous fragrance collection, there´s been an earworm of “Lola” wrapped around my brain, and images of Lady Gaga burned onto my retinas.  Why I´ve chosen to associate the two is beyond my comprehension; especially since I am completely unfamiliar with any Lady Gaga material, save for her outrageous, drag-queenly attire.

marc-jacobs-lola-perfume-080509-1There seems to be a number of retro redux trends gripping the world right now; I´ve been inundated with vintage images of Michael Jackson and The Jackson 5 for reasons I´m sure I don´t need to explain, as well as cheesy late night commercials for the “BumpIts” hair accessory, which promises to deliver a beehive hairdo that would rival Priscilla Presley´s, circa 1967. Along comes Jacobs’ newest scent, packaged in a bottle that can best be described as an homage to an Edible Arrangements bouquet, or Formica and vinyl furniture from the 1960s.

I´ve made no secret of my love for Jacobs´ Daisy fragrance; despite it being an innocuous, ubiquitous fruity floral. My love for it is augmented by the adorable bottle it comes in. I don´t often fall for scent packaging, but Daisy sits atop my list of best bottles, keeping company with Fifi Chachnil, the sweeping couture gown silhouette of Givenchy Organza Indecence (the 100 ml size), and many of the glorious Bond No. 9 bottles. I´ve compared the vinyl Daisy daisies to a kitchen table and chairs my parents had: a round white Formica topped table and vinyl chairs in a shade of green that could only be vinyl. In other words, don´t bother looking for it in nature because it doesn´t exist. Now we have Lola, circa now, and she certainly doesn´t smell like “cherry cola”.

I´m bringing up the rear in terms of a technical review of Lola. If you´re interested in the nuts and bolts, surf on over to Now Smell This or Bois de Jasmin. Robin and Victoria have done their usual bang-up jobs reporting on the who, what, where and why.

To me, Lola is a cheeky, playful little scent that pushes all the right olfactory buttons. It starts out all cute and fruity, becomes girlishly floral, and winds down with a nice bit of vanilla and musk. That description can be used for any number of scents currently on the market, and it makes me think of how I recoiled in disgust from Jessica Simpson´s Fancy the first time smelled it. Lola encompasses all the elements that make you want to avoid department store fragrance counters at all costs; but the one thing it isn´t is a doppelgà¤nger of all those fruit/flower/vanilla/musk mash-ups. It is exceedingly well done. And the bottle is spectacular. My Visa card floated out of my wallet as if on angels wings…right into the hands of the Bloomingdales SA; $85.00 for the 100 ml bottle. How could I not?

Thanks for hanging with me through my retro rewind mode. I recently read an essay written by one of my former professors about the concert Paul McCartney gave last month at the New York Mets´ new stadium, CitiField. It inspired me, and got me thinking about the British Invasion bands and how at the age of 42, I´ve managed to see quite a few of these musicians in concert. I never did see the Beatles together, but I did see McCartney at Giants Stadium back in the early 90s, and George Harrison as part of an ensemble in a benefit concert at Madison Square Garden in the mid 80s. I´ve seen Steve Winwood, Eric Clapton, Rod Stewart, The Kinks, The Who and the Rolling Stones in concert. I´ve also seen Elton John on every single American tour he´s done since 1982. And I still have all the ticket stubs.

 

Once again, it´s your turn: Tell me what your favorite cheesy late night commercials are. And, which musicians/bands have you seen multiple times? Finally, to keep this on topic: Your favorite fragrance bottles.

  • Brooke Alexandra says:

    I might be all of 24, but I’ve seen Duran Duran either six or eight times-so many I’ve lost count!

    And I was just thinking the other day how JPG Classique is really the perfect bottle-it’s so easy to hold.

  • March says:

    Nava, I love that bottle so much, and I felt the same way about Daisy. I went by Nordstrom to see if they had it, but they didn’t. I am actually looking forward to trying this, thanks for reviewing it! It would look great next to my bottle of Betsey Johnson…

  • Sarah says:

    Bruce Springsteen, too many times to count.
    U2, too many times to count.
    Pearl Jam, too many times to count.
    Best concert ever, U2 in Hawaii, with Pearl Jam as the opener.
    Best recent concert — The White Stripes. Jack White is like Prince, he seems to be able to do anything.

    Favorite perfume bottle — the discontinued Helmut Lang. I’m a minimalist at heart, and I loved the apothecary look.

    • chrissyinoz says:

      I’ve seen U2 every time they’ve come to my hometown since 1984…magnificent!! Looking forward to seeing pearl jam here in november, i so wish prince would do an australian tour.

  • mariekel says:

    My favorite recentish commercial was the Stanley Steemer one with the little boy having it out with a doleful-looking basset hound (quel surprise).

    I ADORE the Kinks — my favorite band of all time! I can’t believe, however, that I lived in London during most of the 80s and never once saw The Jam or The Clash. My biggest disappointment, though, had to be not pushing myself to see the great Charles Trenet’s 80th birthday concert in Paris (he wrote La mer, better know as the Bobby Darin version Beyond the Sea). i put it off until it was too late to go. Trenet died the following year. Sigh.

    I DID, however, manage to see The Police in NY on their first ever US tour, The Beat (love em), Ray Davies and Springsteen at Wembley for the Born in the USA Tour. But absolutely the coolest concert I have ever seen was a in Paris — Ornette Coleman and Max Roach on a double bill. Between them, they played for 3.5 hours. It was mind-blowing!

    Segue-ing right along, favourite perfume bottles are the gorgeous baccarat numbers of some of the early Guerlains. I seems to recall a Lalique or two, but cannot quite place which perfume house they were from.

    I quite like the Scent by Alexis bottles, too.

    • carter says:

      Aaaaahhh! Ornette Coleman & Max Roach! And Kim with her Ella. Here’s a kidney for each of those concerts…

  • Natalie says:

    For someone who doesn’t actually like concerts, I went to a fair number of them back in the day: Prince, The Pretenders, Toots and the Maytals, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chicago, Arlo Guthrie, Grandmaster Flash, the Grateful Dead (sorry, Tammy above, but it was sooo not my scene — didn’t help that a complete stranger threw up on me and I had to sleep in the back of a Jeep with about 5 other people!)… The only one I really enjoyed, though, was the fabulously loony Screamin’ Jay Hawkins (still have his autograph on a cocktail napkin).

    One of my problems with popular music concerts is this: are you supposed to dance or what? When people dance, it’s always this half-assed semi-dancing, because you can’t really bust a move at a concert, so what’s the point? But then I feel self-conscious NOT dancing… arrgh! I do adore going to the opera, however, and I’ve seen a fair number of big names, from Pavarotti and Domingo on down, but for my money, anything by the Kirov/Mariinsky blows away the competition (and Valery Gergiev is so verrry dashing!).

    I’m not particularly into bottles either — I’ve done both glassblowing and product design, so I’m a harsh critic — but those lovely Chanel bottles do make my little heart go pitter-pat. I also like the apothecary look of the Lutens bell jars and Penhaligons, and CdG 2 Woman is really a tactile pleasure to hold.

  • tammy says:

    Am I the only Dead Head? I tagged along with older cousins, wide-eyed and fascinated, and it was a ton o’ fun. I have seen a fair amount of concerts…Elton John at Dodger Stadium (I was too young to really appreciate it, and the acoustics were pretty bad, too, but it was another fun experience) Lynyrd Skynyrd, ZZ Top, Springstein well into The Boss era (Born in the USA tour) Mellencamp, The Stones, The Who, U2, REM, Eagles, Go-Gos, Rod Stewart, Pat Benatar, multiple country adn blues folks, and a fair amount of bluegrass.

    Favorites would include John Lee Hooker on my aunt’s back porch on an ungodly hot Mississippi night, Etta James at a small club in LA, and Anonymous 4 in a gorgeous Greek Orthodox church…not in Greece, but still one of the most amazing live performances I have ever heard.

    I like a variety of bottles, but prefer either the simple classic ones like the DelRae, Bvlgari and Chanel or the ridiculously over-the-top femme ones like Fifi Chachnil. As for the Lola bottle, I like the purpleness of it, but the vinyl flowers are a might tacky for my taste. (And yes I know, the Fifi bottle is tacky, too, but I love it for some reason, and it’s a different kind of tacky,somehow!)

  • mals86 says:

    Now I’m jealous of your Jessye, M! I’d love to have heard Leontyne Price live (although that probably would have demanded time travel), or Kiri Te Kanawa…

    I almost never go to concerts; there’s just no budget for the concerts I’d like to attend, and The CEO and I like different music so we never agree anyway. I did hear Bruce Hornsby live, and saw Mellencamp in the “Scarecrow” tour, but that’s about it in my concert history. Unless you count seeing Allison Krauss & Union Station at the fair one year (The CEO’s choice – they’re really really good musicians, I just don’t like bluegrass much). Every now and then I can drag The CEO to a classical concert – there are four colleges within driving distance, and a small-city orchestra – but only rarely.

    I too like the Chanel bottles and the classic Guerlains, but I notice that I have more tolerance for a dull bottle than an ugly one. I admit that I think the Lola bottle is as tacky (translated from the Southern: Ostentatious + Ugly) as the Daisy bottle was cute. But then, so was the L’arte di Gucci bottle, and I love the juice so much that the scary disco bottle doesn’t matter.

    • Musette says:

      Funny Leontyne Price story: back when Marshall Field’s was still Marshall Field & Company – and THE STORE to shop in, when in Chicago, Mme Leontyne was shopping in the 28 Shop – she was weighted down with jewels and furs at 11am, with a crocodile handbag roughly the size of the QE2. She looked like Miss Havisham gone wild – but there was this ‘air’ about her….she had such FORCE! Everyone was terrified to approach her.

      For sheer elegance though, can’t beat the uber-elegant James Mason, strolling through the China Dept! Such easy elegance and such lovely manners. I swooned for a week! Of course, he was not a singer but still….such elegance…

      xo >-)

  • Olfacta says:

    Veg-o-Matic. Make one tomato last the whole winter with Veg-o-Matic!

  • Sunnyfunny says:

    Different generation here, too! I saw Godsmack at Rockfest twice, the first being the first time they played in Oregon. Also saw those crazy Armenian boys, System of a Down, at two diff. Rockfests. The only other musician I’ve seen more than once is Jonny Lang. And I will see him again. Am getting DH hooked on blues. 🙂

    My favorite bottle, hands down, is Lolita Lempicka. The Nina Ricci apple bottles are really pretty, too!

  • Disteza says:

    SL bell jars, ’nuff said.

    I’m from a slightly different generation–got to see David Bowie with Nine Inch Nails back in ’94, and White Zombie in the front row (almost got trampled, definitely got spit on by Rob) back in ’97. Went to the 2nd Woodstock in ’96, but I don’t remember most of the stage acts because I spent waaay too much time hanging out in the DJ tent with the other ravers. Mostly I remember shows by their violence level: being thrown into the mosh pit and almost run down at a Korn show in ’94, throwing some elbows and getting in a fight to get to the front row at a Static X concert in 2002, almost starting a fight with a guy with my terrified underage brother-in-law in tow at the Prodigy show (which was the last throwdown at Nation back in 2005). Ah the times, they are a-changing….

    • chrissyinoz says:

      i’m in my late 40s but i’ve seen the prodigy a number of times…most recent in jan this yr at the annual big day out festival which tours australia. They went OFFFFFFF!!!! lol

  • Shelley says:

    You know, for someone who PLAYED a fair amount of music, I didn’t get to many live performances. Scratch that. I saw plenty of live music…it was just smaller venues, local musicians…arena concerts few and far between. Though for a short while, I was busy with such things, and saw the Cars, Fleetwood Mac (opened by Men at Work), Diana Ross (I lived in Detroit, you kinda had to at least once), Billy Joel (two tours, including the bandaged hands from motorcycle crash–have a good story there). No big bad boys. No punk, though friends were going around me. MC5 was before my time, Bob Seger played the ice arena where we always skated the decade before me…Patti Smith did her thing in NYC…I coulda shoulda woulda seen Pavarotti in his prime, but there was a boy (another story, very predictable)…OTOH, Mstislav Rostopovich was a pal of my teacher’s, and back in the day, you could have seen them playing duets and small ensembles at the local Borders. Just for fun. No kidding.

    Favorite bottles: Ditto the Chanel, though I’m going to toss in the Exclusifs caps as a special nomination for specific bottle anatomy–love those magnetic thwonking caps. Also a fan of the Black Cashmere worry stone, mentioned earlier. Kind of dig the slightly melted bottle of 24, Fauborg. The Malle bottles feel nice, as do the Bulgari tea. DK Gold bottles have something going on, though it’s all display (no function attached, unlike that Black Cashmere, which feels good and operates well). Funny, I was going to say I don’t really care about the bottles… 😉

    • Nava says:

      I’ve always preferred the small venues and I considered it a turn-off to see concerts at stadiums. When it was an act I really wanted to see, I sucked it up and went to the stadium show. Now, I flat-out refuse.

      Great bottle choices, too. 🙂

    • Kim says:

      Oh my gosh!! Rostropovich at Borders??? I sure hope you went lots!

      • Shelley says:

        Only once. My bad…but I was 12, and it was the other side of the metropolis. Is that you who saw Ella? Way cool!

        • carter says:

          My brother-in-law was with the NSO for, like, a hundred years; he not only played but was in management and was good buddies with Slava. Adored him. Lots of vodka shots involved.

  • Musette says:

    Chanel bottle for me, too! I like the classic, simple lines.L’Artisan octagonal bottles are lovely, too. I’m not one for fussy botts.

    I hate concerts. Well, except for classical or jazz…..I love jazz in small venues – it gets weird when it gets huge. Mid-career Jessye Norman……….day-am!!! I’m surprised the roof stayed on the concert hall!

    There is one big-venue exception: Bony Tony Bennett. I have loved him since I was a little girl and if he’s in concert anywhere near me I’m on it, even now, as his voice gets raspier and raspier! – my papi adores him and has every single album. As a young adult I had the distinct pleasure of sending my parents to see him at the Drury Lane in Chicago – my pop called me @ 2am, delirious with delight “Tony Bennett SHOOK MY HAND!”

    The only other concerts I made of point of attending were Pat Metheney Group but that was because I was pals with the band (still hadda pay, though – we weren’t THAT close :-). My ex used to call Pat’s stuff “music for the recently deceased’ and once fell asleep! snoring and all, in a concert in Chicago.

    Okay, so not only am I old, I’m a geek to boot!

    I hate all cheesy commercials. I feel bad about saying this (I’m sure he was a nice person and all) but I would be happy to never hear Billy Mays’ TV voice again. Alas, even death has not stilled that particular shriek. Sorry, Billy.

    xoxo >-)

    • Disteza says:

      Oh the irony–I was watching TV late Wedneday night and I saw a Billy Mays commercial in which he was schilling health insurance. No joke. “I trust my health, and my family’s health, to ehealthcare” (or something like that). The jokes, they could not stop all evening.

      • Nava says:

        With you on the bell jars. I do love them so…

        The only experience I can relate to slam dancing in a mosh pit is when I almost got trampled at an Aerosmith concert (Ted Nugent opened) at Madison Square Garden on their “Done With Mirrors” tour.

    • Nava says:

      See, this is why I like asking for contributions; the answers are always fascinating! I would have loved to see Sinatra in his prime. I get giddy watching that HBO move “The Rat Pack”. Ray Liotta did a killer Sinatra, and Don Cheadle had Sammy Davis Jr. down cold. Unfortunately, Tony Bennett doesn’t do it for me, but I can appreciate his appeal.

      I never found Billy Mays anywhere near as annoying as that ShamWow/SlapChop guy. He’s beyond irritating.

    • Kim says:

      I was lucky enough to see Ella Fitzgerald on one of her last concert tours. Not in a small venue but worth it none the less. I was shocked at how short she was! How could such amazing volume and sound come out of such a little being? Whoa, could that lady sing!

  • Kim says:

    Chanel bottles, no question – love the clean lines, perfect proportions, never tire of looking at them!! Also Guerlain bottles are always interesting, especially the classic bottles.

    Concerts – okay but I’m taking it to my real music love, classical music. Cecilia Bartoli – I saw her a number of times just as she was becoming really famous – amazing voice & control, vivacious performer, superb!! Would not hesitate to see her any place, any time! Oh, and Richard Egarr playing The Well Tempered Clavier, entire Book 1 in a small venue in London. Yawn away, but for a hard core Bach fan like me, it was heaven!!

    • Silvia says:

      Check out the Bach Week in Ansbach, Germany. Held every second year, 2 concerts per day, must be heaven for you ! Was there last week-end.

    • Nava says:

      Unfortunately, I’ve never been into classical music, so I’ll take your word. Must…expand…my…horizons. 🙂

    • mals86 says:

      Jealous of your Bartoli. Jealous, jealous, jealous.

  • chrissyinoz says:

    being an aussie i have to say that the best shows i ever went to were midnight oil….classic peter garrett (even though he’s now a minister in our ruling government) the oils were so anti-establishment back in the day. Elvis Costello playing a 3 & a half hr acoustic show in 1987 was heaven on a stick. David Bowie (the jesus of cool) 1978, 1983 & 1987 such great memories. My fave bottles…bandit & fracas. Very simple but black is mystery & those fragrances are pure mystery & sensuousness.

    • Nava says:

      Never saw Men At Work?

      I agree about Bowie and Elvis Costello. I’ve never managed to see either one of them. 🙁

      • chrissyinoz says:

        have to say i never saw men at work….never thought they were cool til many yrs after they split. I think i was too young to appreciate colin hay’s lyrics, was a hoot to see him singing overkill on scrubs a few yrs back.

    • Shelley says:

      Oh! I’ve seen Elvis Costello…in a medium size venue…he was fantastic. My spouse saw him recently when he toured with Bob Dylan…opened for him!…

  • Christine Lasky says:

    Okay….my train doesn’t exactly stop at the Classic Rock station but intead whistles for the one and only Neil Diamond. He does it for me each and every time with his too-tight black “hair dresser” pants and his Sweet Caroline. Every time he announces a new concert tour my heart beats fast and I clamor for tickets.
    As for perfume bottles the ones that I really dig are Chanel ( I have a lineup in my perfume cabinet devoted to them). Classic and cleancut….sort of no-nonsense……hhhmmmm. I’m boring.

    • Kim says:

      Boring??? No, no, no! A purist, a modernist, a lover of classics. But not boring!

      • Nava says:

        Agreed. Nothing boring about the classics.

        On my honeymoon cruise to Bermuda, I tortured the lounge lizard piano bar player by making him play “Sweet Caroline” every night. Doing the whole “baaa, baaa, baa” thing when you’ve been drinking frozen daquiris all day is wicked good fun!

  • Silvia says:

    Seen Medeski Martin and Wood 4 times, one of which with John Scofield, they were amazing. Joan Baez in 1984 at the Verona Arena was very moving, the Police in Hyde Park last year made me feel 18 again.

    I like simple bottles, that are nice to hold, like the old Black Cashmere and CdG 2. I second Chanel too. And the Vero Kern tiny bottles are uber cute.

  • Fiordiligi says:

    I’m so glad I can post here (without the usual nesting reply problem) because now I can play my trump card and say that I saw the Beatles in Liverpool in 1964!

    I’ve seen Simon & Garfunkel twice (last time in Hyde Park) and always see my beloved Jackson Browne when he comes to the UK, James Taylor ditto. One of the most memorable concerts ever was Ry Cooder in the early 80s.

    Guerlain bottles are my passion too, with my Baccarat turtle at the top of the list.

    Love the Kinks, by the way, but sadly I can’t say the same about the new MJ fragrance……..

    Cheesy late-night ads? Must be a US thing. Je ne comprends pas!

  • rosarita says:

    The 70s rockers – Aerosmith, REO Speedwagon, Kiss, Blue Oyster Cult (more cowbell!) Styx, Rush, etc etc. all played the small venues of the midwest when I was in high school; tickets were generally 5 bucks.Saw Bruce Springsteen several times before he became the Boss, including one memorable night @ the University of Notre Dame in 1977, where he came back out w/just a guitar after the roadies had packed everything up, and played till the wee hours for about 30 of us who’d hung around. I moved to Texas in the late 70s and saw lots of much bigger shows, but also bands like the B52s and Talking Heads in tiny clubs. Now, so many old bands play things like the county fair…Three Dog Night, Pat Benetar, Steppenwolf. *sigh* Makes me feel old.

    I like bottles w/personality – most of the Rochas line, Gres Cabaret – but also like the classic Chanel bottles. I don’t own any Bond 9s but I like many of their bottles. I haven’t seen Lola in real life but the pics are adorable. Thanks for the fun post, Nava. 🙂

    • Silvia says:

      A kidney of mine for the B52s and the Talking Heads in tiny clubs !

    • Nava says:

      You’re welcome, as always. 🙂

      It is really disturbing how the mighty have fallen. When groups like Chicago, Journey, etc. play those small summer venues, it not only makes me feel old, it breaks my heart. I always think they should just do us all a favor and stay home and collect their royalty checks.

      • Olfacta says:

        Well, unfortunately, the only way you get royalty checks is if you own the publishing, and most bands don’t — often they give it away when young & dumb, and unless you have huge sales for years and years, you don’t get any money even for that, unless you have a very good lawyer and renegotiate you deal and also with the other band members. So these band you see out on the road past their prime are there mostly because they need the money (disposed of it quickly when young & dumb) and/or because they don’t know how do do anything else — or don’t want to. And sometimes that’s not so bad.

    • Nava says:

      Another kidney donation here. I did see Robert Plant at Madison Square Garden right after his first solo album came out. Phil Collins was on the drums and it was a fabulous show.

  • carter says:

    I saw just about everybody during the 70s: Crosby, Stills & Nash with and without Neil Young, and Neil Young by his lonesome. Bonnie Raitt before she became Top 40, Springsteen eighteen times when he was playing college gymnasiums and Carter Barron back before Born to Run, Elton during his Tiny Dancer period, Rod Stewart in is Maggie May days, The Stones, Traffic. I saw The Eagles, Linda Ronstadt and Jackson Browne on a triple bill, Joe Cocker on his Mad Dogs & Englishman tour, The Band, Dylan, Carlos Santana, The Almann Brothers in a tiny club in Old Town Alexandria.

    But far and away the band I loved the most and saw more times than I can count was Little Feat when the brilliant Lowell George was still alive. I was at the concert the night he died backstage. That band was so great that the audience would be standing up the entire night, usually jumping up and down on the seats of the seedy old Warner Theatre in downtown D.C. before it was restored to its former glory. The Tower of Power horns would play with them and Lawdy they would blow the roof off of the place. They were Mick Jagger’s favorite band with good reason, and except for The Band, probably the only rock concert I’d still move heaven and earth to see, if such a thing were possible. The one band that I never saw and would have loved to was Led Zeppelin. Oooh, yeah, ooo-ooh yeah!

    My favorite bottles are the Guerlains in all of their incarnations, with the acorn bottles in the number one spot. I love the bees, the rose top, and the slender flutes that lie on their sides. I even love the gold-cased purse sprays. Everything about those bottles is elegant and timeless and they are a pleasure to own.

    • rosarita says:

      I would have given a kidney to see Led Zeppelin. Saw Jimmy Page on PBS the other night in his castle; he’s 66 and looks it.

    • Olfacta says:

      Well, I was in the music business, and before that was married to a musician, so I’ve seen many shows. Bul Feat was a favorite — I even sort of knew them (first husband was friends with the keyboard player.) Best music ever to come out of that time, and Lowell George was a tragic figure of Shakespearen proportion, imho.

      Two concerts in my personal top 5 — Patti Smith at the Roxy in LA in 1975 (I thought I was gong to see some boring feminist poet, no one knew who she was but my roommate had been given tickets) who took the stage with her band and the immortal line “Jesus died for somebody’s sins but not mine” thereby blowing my mind forever, and the Violent Femmes first LA show (again, didn’t know: I thought they were girls) with Gordon Gano dressed in a old dirty raincoat like a flasher (remember “Kiss Off?” One for my family, two ’cause you left me” etc.)They opened with that. Talking Heads “big suit” show where “Stop Making Sense” was recorded (in part at least.) And so many other shows; I’m not thrilled to be in my 50’s but am glad I was there.

      • carter says:

        Patty Smith at the Roxy, wow!

        The small venues were the best. I don’t know if it’s still there, but I used to go to a club in DC called the Cellar Door, and saw some phenomenal musicians there in a room about the size of a walk-in closet. Neil Young played there, as did Bonnie Raitt. One night I was there standing outside on line for some new guy named Steve Martin to perform his comedy act, when he actually came out and made balloon hats for us and did practically another full set on the sidewalk prior to the show.

        Now I’m like Musette/Anita and only go to see jazz. My new Little Feat is Kurt Elling, whom I have seen four times already this year. I also love Tierney Sutton, and tonight I am going to see the legendary and mind-blowing Andy Bey at the Cornelia Street Cafe. My best jazz story is going to see Mel Torme at Charlie Byrd’s club in Georgetown. During the performance I started to get the feeling that he was singing to me, but was certain that it must be someone else in my general vicinity instead. At one point during the show, however, I had to use the Ladies, and when I made my way back to my table Mr. Torme stopped the song he was in the middle of singing and said to me “Oh, there you are! Let’s see, what did you miss while you were gone? I’ll start the song over so that you will be able to hear the whole thing.” And he did! It was one of the most exciting (and embarrassing) things that has ever happened to me. So funny, and what a thrill! I later found out that it was his practice to single out one woman from each night’s audience and sing exclusively to her, which was his way of not only entertaining himself, but making the music intimate.

        • carter says:

          Oh, and the weirdest thing probably ever seen was Sting starring in a production of The Pirates of Penzance. He was quite good, but it was still weird.

          • ggs says:

            Carter & Nava– my fellow perfumista Little Feat fans! Fond memories of many an excellent concert in Wash. DC & Baltimore back in the day. I regret not being able to see them until after Lowell died. Have you heard The Bridge, a band from Baltimore with quite the Feat influence in their sound? Their debut album a few years ago really brought a smile to my face, and they have a terrific new CD.

            Thanks, Nava, for making me think back over the many concerts I’ve enjoyed. I 2nd Musette on jazz in small venues!!
            The rock concerts standing out in my mind are: Paul Simon & Ladysmith Black Mambazo on the Graceland tour.. Sting in the mid-80’s… and Billy Joel & Elton John touring together 6 or 7 years ago (saw them twice, and Joel was really great, quite surprising to me; I thought Elton John would kick his butt.)

            Just this spring David Byrne took no prisoners in a great theatre venue on a new tour. We were thrilled that he did a lot of Talking Heads as well as his new material. James Taylor still has a great voice after 40+ years, and continues to write good new material. Unfortunately, Paul McCartney does not sound so strong 40 years later… But Fiordiligi’s comment above about seeing the Beatles in Liverpool definitely wins the day. Imagine!

            Extra fun to see in a smaller venue—The Decemberists, Sister Hazel, Barenaked Ladies. Ben Folds, used to do this thing bouncing the microphone off the piano strings that you have to see & hear live 😉

            Re: bottles
            2nd Shelly on the Chanel Exclusive line magnetic caps. Very satisfying although it’s too bad the bottles are much too big to hold comfortably. SJP’s Covet bottle, with the brown plastic flower top seems right to me for some reason, go figure. The By Kilian bottles are really very well done too, very classy with heft. But I have no problems with decants in utilitarian bottles– I’m all about the juice inside!

            Cheers to all the music & perfume lovers! Art & creativity reigns on these blogs, doesn’t it?

    • Nava says:

      Carter, I have a somewhat immature question you ask you: Will you be my best friend? Pleeeeeeeze?????? I’ll take you to Lugers…

      I adore Little Feat, but never got to see them with Lowell. I did, however, see them numerous times with Craig Fuller and they always blew me away. And, I’ve seen the Allman Brothers a bunch of times at the Beacon Theatre and out at Jones Beach.

      I agree about the Guerlain bottles. The bee ones are the bee’s knees. 😀

      • carter says:

        If you’ll be my Dixie Chicken, I’ll be your Tennessee Lamb! I’m rushing right out to get the friendship ring. Feats don’t fail me now…

        • Nava says:

          Meet you at the Commodore Hotel!

          • carter says:

            If you give me weed, whites and wine, and Peter Luger t-bone, I’ll be willin’ 🙂

          • Musette says:

            I leave for ONE day and see what you get up to?

            hmmph!

            xo >-)

          • carter says:

            The Feat trump practically everything, and then there’s the Luger’s enticement. Sorry, doll. But if you could maybe come up with a sudden intense passion for Kurt Elling, my little heart could go all fickle in a flash.

  • bryan says:

    I love these trips. I would kill to see Elton, but I’ve missed every tour.
    OK, my true love is Whitney and I’m stoked she’s coming back! Though, to me, she never left. I saw her HBO Classic Whitney concert in DC and you can actually see me in the crowd (you have to squint but I’m there) and I saw her front row center two nights in a row on the kickoff of her My love is your love tour in Chicago…kind of the last real tour before the madness took over….though only temporarily!!!
    ‘Cause she’s BACK!!
    Ok Ok, Bryan calm down.

    Favorite bottles…I have to say, hands down, No 5. Classy, beautiful, but it just screams…here is a JUICE!

    I also love Bryant Park’s pre redo bottle.

    And the vintage L’artisan bottles because they remind me of my first obsessions with perfume.

    Randomly: Guerlain bee bottles; Escada Ocean Blue (or any of them really); Sonia Rykiel Le Parfum;
    Magic by Celine with the cute charms all over it.

    Thanks March, this is fun

    • Nava says:

      Hi Bryan,

      I also love Whitney Houston. I remember when she modeled for “Seventeen” magazine before her music career took off.

      That Pucci inspired Bryant Park bottle (pre-redo) is also a fave. I have one!

      Hang in there for Elton. I don’t believe he has any plans to stop touring. 🙂

      Nava

      • bryan says:

        So sorry Nava, dear. I didn’t even look to see who authored this!

        Hangs head sheepishly