Natalie Merchant with the Nashville Symphony, Schermerhorn Symphony Center, Nashville, TN - 11/13/2011

This was a bit off the usual path for us, but it seemed like it would be a cool thing to do as part of celebrating my wife's birthday. We started out at Virago, which was exceptionally good. We got into the venue, which was pretty darn crowded, and right on time Natalie Merchant took the stage, looking quite a bit older than I expected, though that's probably due to the fact that she is forever frozen in her 1987, In My Tribe-era persona.

That being said (and being a bit harsh, I know), she sounded fantastic and much better than I could've anticipated. The setlist drew heavily on her recent output, which features classic poems set to orchestral arrangements, but she whipped out some deep cuts, including a jaw-dropping "Verdi Cries" during the first set and a fun "Kind and Wonderful" encore to the end the show.

Most of all, it's hard to overstate how impressive her voice was in a live context, especially a concert hall that sounds as good as the Schermerhorn.

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Mercy Lounge, Nashville, TN - 10/16/2011

Not a whole lot to say about this show. I ended up going with some friends more or less on a whim. I have their first record and think that it's fine as far as poppy/ear candy type stuff goes. The opener, Twin Sister, has been getting a lot of press, but we mainly hung out on the deck catching up pre-show.

So the Pains of Being Pure at Heart came out and did their thing, actually playing "This Love Is F---ing Right" second on the setlist, but the whole thing just didn't do a whole lot for me. They were competent but did not bring a whole lot to the table that was so compelling. It's tough when the last band I saw was 2 nights of Wilco, who set a pretty high bar in terms of musicianship and bringing the live goods.

Great time with my friends, just a fairly meh show ...