It has been established that I saw Mara Connor's first Los Angeles set. It was over at The Hi Hat. For those unaware of that venue, the location is now The Goldfish. In regards to firsts, I also attended The Goldfish's first live music event (there had been some dance nights previously) and covered the night for Buzzbands. You can see the photos and review here. The venue had a rough start and basically had limited music nights from 2023 - 2024. During that time, I did happen to cover Jess Joy (formerly of Moon Honey) coming back into town from New Orleans for US Rocker, which you can read here. Good news for the venue; however, starting in mid-February they started booking shows again. Hopefully, I'll get to make it over shortly.
 |
| Mara Connor with Ben Joyner at The Fable |
Back to Mara Connor, ever since that first occasion, I've caught at least a couple of her shows a year (less the time when venues shut down). And for an interesting connection, I learned that she used to work with Soraya Sebghati of Night Talks. If interested, you can read my Buzzbands review of Night Talks album release show here (note that the review has a real "Cherry Bomb" of a surprise).
 |
| Mara Connor at The Fable |
I had yet to see a Connor set in 2025 and the opportunity arose recently at The Fable. Would you know it, this can also be considered a first. It was the School of Song's first open mic night at the venue and she was the featured artist.
Now I always get influenced by the movies I've seen recently and I just so happened to have seen The Complete Unknown. I was sort of waiting for some snarky Bob Dylan-like criticism of another artists during the open mic, but hey, it was a very supportive group of singers going up and performing a song each. (Of course, maybe that's the difference between New York City and Los Angeles.)
The place was packed and it was a bit hard to get a spot where I didn't feel like I was blocking a person's view of the singing. When I was back in one corner, there was an amusing conversation between two individuals. One person wanted to catch her friend and the only spot with a perfect view was to stand in front of someone sitting by a water jug. She asked the guy if it would be okay if she stood in front of him for one song. They seemed to have a good time joking about it. As promised, she left the spot as soon as he finished he song.
 |
| Mara Connor at The Fable |
Connor's performance was somewhere in the middle of the open mic and lasted about 25 minutes so nearly a full 30 minute set. The set was filled with some familiar songs and a new one. The song "Navy Yard" was about a first date with someone who cried after hearing a Lou Reed song. Her song "Your Company" was cowritten with Ben Joyner, who came up on stage for the song. The Los Angeles fires inspired song was introduced with, "It's been really inspiring watching people come together and support each other. So props to you for being cool and awesome. It's really made me appreciate our LA community and how resilient we are." Oh hey, back to my The Complete Unknown movie obsession, Joyner did play the harmonica during the song.
"Someone New" was not played on this particular night, but it would be sort of amusing if I did not make it my Song Spotlight. Why? Now I don't want to be someone who is constantly bothering a band / singer to put a song on their setlist, but I will on occasion ask her if "Someone New" will be on the setlist. I know that the answer often depends on if she has a partner in crime to join her on stage as it is a song that was performed with Langhorne Slim. The song is a reflection on a random encounter with a past love where the feelings aren't exactly extinguished.
 |
| Mara Connor at The Fable |
You and your fears, me and my broken heart
If I could take us right back to the start
I would, I would
I will admit it isn't the most unique choice of a Song Spotlight. It is her most played song on Spotify and is making its way towards the one million mark. But hey, who cares, I was probably one of the first fans to hear it live.
Setlist: Summertime in the City, Navy Yard, Your Company (duet with Ben Joyner), American Dream, Doomsday, Two Dollar Bill.
No comments:
Post a Comment