iMOGEN HEAP!!!

A singer that I've absolutely adored since before high school is iMOGEN HEAP. I loved her first album under the name "Frou Frou" and I even had the opportunity to see her live in Salt Lake City in December of 2006 on her "Speak for Yourself" tour. Absolutely amazing concert! Well I received a random e-mail from my friend Ariel 2 weeks ago with a link to a page on the iMOGEN website stating that she would be holding cello auditions 2-3 days before each of her concerts on the "Ellipse" tour and the winners would be able to play "Aha!" with her live at the show. At first I just looked past it and said "yeah, whatever, like I could ever play with her." Well I was cleaning out my e-mail on Friday morning and I came across it again, and I thought I'd print out the music and play it just for fun. Then I was thinking, "what the heck, I'll at least try." So that night at 10PM Immi held online auditions for the Los Angeles concert, And....I WON! It was a funny story as to how my audition process went. It included starting out at the USC LDS Institute, then the internet wasn't working properly, so we jumped in my friends car, grabbing everything as fast as we could, and ran to my friend Emilie's apartment where we then piled into a small college dorm room, set up a laptop, and began waiting for the audition. Could you imagine walking into a room with 7 college students, one with a cello, just sitting around a computer. Well I thought it was a hilarious sight.

Yes, I was able to get a picture with Immi! I have to say she was one of the nicest people I have ever met and she's an amazing musician with great talent! During the sound check she was always making sure I was okay or that everything was going smoothly, because as it was she was frazzled because they didn't have enough time to practice her entire set. After the concert she even took time out to talk to me and offer me a drink. Even though it probably wasn't that big of an experience for her, it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life and I'll never forget it!

Here is the video of me performing "Aha!" from her album entitled "Ellipse" with her. Notice she stopped the piece in the middle then started up again. I wasn't afraid at all of not knowing where I was. (That was a VERY sarcastic comment.) In fact, I thought I was all cool for having the music memorized, but it was expected. Haha good thing I like to go above and beyond in my head, when in reality it's just what people expect. Whatever floats my boat! Also at the end when I finished I gave her a hug as you will notice, and she was said to me while on stage "take a bow!" In the back of my head I'm thinking, "people don't bow at rock concerts," so there was definite hesitation in my bow resulting in an awkward hug/bow with iMOGEN HEAP. What a memory that created.

The guy in the middle was the second opening act "Back Ted N-Ted" and the fellow on the right is Chris, Immi's percussionist. I got to chat with both of them a little while backstage and they were so awesome! They have definitely inspired me to either move to England or to acquire a British accent. I will do my best to accomplish either of those this next year. Also the musicians from the opening act Tim was so amazing too, I just didn't get the opportunity to catch a picture with him. Next time! (haha like there will be one..) Immi definitely brings some awesome people on her tour!
I got to bring one person with me, and with all the decisions, my friend Chase got to go with me. This was at about 1AM after the show, and having arrived there at 6:30PM I was all but tired. (I think my hideous grin shows the fatigue.) We just had to document the after effects of reaching stardom!...or as close to it as we can get.
Just for fun I posted the picture I took with Immi in 2006 at her show in Salt Lake City. Those are my friends Ariel and Nate! Haha what a fun concert! And little did Immi know, the picture she took with someone in Salt Lake City would be the same person playing the cello for her at her concert in November 2009 in Los Angeles! Amazing!