Vienna Teng

Last night, I went to Vienna Teng's concert in her hometown of Palo Alto. Finally, after hearing Sameera tell me of the previous concerts she had been to, and after listening to one of them live through my cell phone while Sameera sat on the other end in the concert in LA, I went to her concert at one of the best locations possible.

It was a wonderful gift from Sim for my birthday. Not to mention excellent seats; second row, center skewed to the left, the perfect angle to see her sing.

The concert was special to me, and I think Vienna had a very interesting platform and audience to work with this time. We all were locals and knew the various places she spoke of, especially Stanford and the Red Rock Cafe out in Mountain View. Her stories about her upbringing in an immigrant Chinese family were equally familiar to me, and I just found so much of last night so relevant to my own life. Having Chinese immigrant parents, feeling compelled to do something "techie" but knowing that wasn't quite right, wanting to go far away for college but ending up blocks from your own house, artificially setting up the feeling of being far away in college... There was a lot in there that I just laughed and poked Sim about, with reciprocated gestures from her.

She had her new toy with her this time as well, an interesting gadget that allowed her to play something or sing life, have it recorded, and replayed over the sound system, so that she managed to sing with herself in harmony and as her own background instruments. I was so happy to see that I was so familiar with every song she sang, except for the new ones for her upcoming musical.

Meeting her in person was actually somehow a surprise. Her presence on stage and off were, well, different in some ways, though of course Vienna was Vienna. A picture, a joking conversation, and then Sim and I were off back home.

The audience was so lively, and I loved it. A few memorable moments...

For Antebellum, Alex Wong wasn't present, so at the moment when he was to sing she suddenly spoke into the microphone, "Those of you who know Alex Wong's part can sing along..."
This is what a concert can give you, so much more than what listening to a recording can. The audience picked up Alex Wong's lines and we softly as Vienna sang her part above us.

I have heard Passage many times before, but for some reason last night when she sang it live, though I'd heard the song before, I teared up for the first time.

The Grandmother Song brought about a great opportunity for audience participation and hilarity. We provided the stamp clap! stamp clap! along to Vienna's singing, and she encouraged us to yell and howl just as the song had but that she couldn't provide herself as she sang. A great "AIYA!" came from some man behind and to the left, and the audience burst out in laughter.

I was pleasantly surprised - though I really knew this and shoudn't have been surprised - to see that the audience was made mostly of older people, adult and older. Many Caucasians, too, though Asians had their presence.

She's so mellow when she talks, but she surprises me with her outbursts on stage. Kind of like Erica, actually. I liked it.

It was a great concert, and finally the one I had been really wanting to go to. I couldn't think of a better place to see her in concert than this hometown.

I think Sim and I were also the most vocal during this concert; we kept yelling approval when we heard a familiar reference.

For her autograph, I brought my sketchbook to have her sign it. It was so plain, but I couldn't think of something else I would have rather her sign. As I was sitting waiting for the concert to begin, however, I noticed how cool the stage looked... and drew it. During the concert, I recorded each song name in a little column down the left, and managed to squeeze in a few drawings of Vienna in the dark. She signed in the blank I left, and it sealed my day.