Last night Amy and I went to see Vienna Teng play at the Somerville Theatre. She was opening for Duncan Sheik, and these days is performing with Marika Hughes (cello, vocals) and Dina Maccabee (violin, viola, vocals). I didn't realize this until today, but Marika is also a member of Charming Hostess - I thought she looked familiar! Charming Hostess came through MIT about a year ago and I talked with front-woman Jewlia Eisenberg about music technology that could integrate into their show. This conversation was the seed for the PureJoy, which will become the Larch when it finally gets to Jewlia."Vienna" (still sounds funny to call her that!) has a great stage presence - very much at ease, and she is a good storyteller. The pressure of a 1-hour timeslot doesn't let her storytell quite as much as when she came to MIT a couple of years ago, but she still manages to make the show feel like it's a house show, and you're just across the living room from her playing piano and singing.
Amy and I chatted with her after she played, and discovered that - as we suspected - she'll miss her 10-year high school reunion because she's still on tour in October.. Here's a picture of the 2 saratoga girls!
click here for my photo album from the entire show
p.s. something about Vienna's song "Whatever You Want" reminds me of the Buggles "Video Killed the Radio Star"
