This weekend I had the opportunity to check out singer-songwriter Ingrid Michaelson’s sold out show at The Troc in Philly from arguably the best seat in the house: backstage. A friend of a friend happened to be the tour manager for Ingrid’s opening act—The Gugenheim Grotto, a very talented and very cool duo of songwriters from Dublin—and he scored me a ticket and backstage pass for the event. I don’t want to give away too much regarding the show itself as Ingrid and her band’s performance was just that, a performance and I’d hate to ruin it for fans who are seeing her later on in the tour. However, I will say that the two hour set came complete with storytelling, crowd interaction, and even a fully choreographed dance routine during a cover of a song by a certain Ms. Spears. After the show we hung around backstage and made our way back to the dressing room area where Ingrid and the band were hanging out and I proceeded to have a chat with bass player Chris Kuffner about the pickups used by his wife and fellow bandmate Bess Rogers in her Fender Strat—EMG Vince Gill SA’s if anyone is interested—and get the backstage time-sheet I stole off the wall signed by Ingrid herself. Oh and then after that, my girlfriend and I went out for dinner with/hung out with Gugenheim Grotto for three hours after the show. Just a typical Friday night. No big deal.

This weekend I had the opportunity to check out singer-songwriter Ingrid Michaelson’s sold out show at The Troc in Philly from arguably the best seat in the house: backstage. A friend of a friend happened to be the tour manager for Ingrid’s opening act—The Gugenheim Grotto, a very talented and very cool duo of songwriters from Dublin—and he scored me a ticket and backstage pass for the event.

I don’t want to give away too much regarding the show itself as Ingrid and her band’s performance was just that, a performance and I’d hate to ruin it for fans who are seeing her later on in the tour. However, I will say that the two hour set came complete with storytelling, crowd interaction, and even a fully choreographed dance routine during a cover of a song by a certain Ms. Spears.

After the show we hung around backstage and made our way back to the dressing room area where Ingrid and the band were hanging out and I proceeded to have a chat with bass player Chris Kuffner about the pickups used by his wife and fellow bandmate Bess Rogers in her Fender Strat—EMG Vince Gill SA’s if anyone is interested—and get the backstage time-sheet I stole off the wall signed by Ingrid herself.

Oh and then after that, my girlfriend and I went out for dinner with/hung out with Gugenheim Grotto for three hours after the show. Just a typical Friday night. No big deal.