Here's a little lesson about going to stake conference. I went to mine in April and heard many talks about being charitable and servie-oriented. After it was all over I ran into a friend who is a fellow new-music lover. She informed me that one of my new music obsessions, She & Him, was going to be in town on the upcoming Tuesday. With much elation and probably some jumping up and down I decided that I would splurge and make an appearance at the show. Of course tickets were sold out, but I was extra nice and servicable to customers that day so good karma would smile on me and provide me with a ticket. (I saw sold out Bon Iver for free in February because some guy had an extra ticket.) I nearly succombed to a scalper, but luckily another random guy needed to get rid of a ticket.

Let me give you a background on She & him because you may not have heard me chatter on about this group..or you didn't get to go to South By Southwest...or you don't have a subscription to Entertainment Weekly...or you don't listen to All Songs Considered. Well, She & Him is the charming little project from stellar music producer M.Ward and indie actress Zooey Deschanel. In fact, you may have heard her sing before, if you saw the movie, Elf. She has an amazing amazing amazing voice, and she almosts channels Patsy Cline. M.Ward isn't too shabby either, and after Tuesday, he has pretty much replaced Gary Lightbody as my rockstar crush. (Gary, you still have a chance. All you need to do is go to the bakery, toss me a wink, smile and possibly your phone number and you will be back on the top of the list.)

The concert was a blast considering Zooey was dealing with some laryngitis. She still sang solidly, but she didn't talk to the audience. Instead she would hold up signs with phrases normally heard from the band frontman like, "Hello New York!" or "You All Look Great!" or "Thank You!" It was rather delightful in sign-form. I was too far away to take decent pictures, and my camera battery died. Instead, thanks to the invention of YouTube, I have supplied you with clips from the show: 1. "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here" - my favorite and 2. "You Really Got a Hold on Me" or "How M.Ward Usurped Gary Lightbody as My Rockstar Crush."





Oh yeah, those lessons learned? Go to stake conference and you will hear about rock concerts. Be nice and helpful to others and someone will sell you a ticket to a sold out show. Or something like that.