Jumping into a quickly growing crowd, we looked down at our watch and it said 8:45pm. What was Ingrid Michaelson already doing on stage? Right before leaving our house, we checked the website: 8pm - Doors Open, 9pm - Show Starts. Boy, were we surprised to find out Michaelson had already been playing for 15 minutes. Maybe it's fate, karma or maybe just bad planning but this is the second time we've missed Michaelson's full set. Though initially quite irritated we were quickly entrapped by her clear, gorgeous vocals and recognizable music (off her latest debut, Girls and Boys). We understood why someone in the audience screamed, "You should be headlining." Quickly, another fan, this time on the front row, screamed "I only came for you!" For opening the show before the show actually "started", this is quite impressive.

Michaelson breezed through "The Way I Am" (the Old Navy sweater commercial) with audience participation. After a few tries, the audience finally clapped correctly (I don't think we impressed Ms. Michaelson with our rhythm abilities). Though a bit rhythm challenged, the audience sang along with the short but recognizable tune.

We missed, "Corner of Your Heart," which we have a strong affinity to since we are huge fans of Grey's Anatomy. (It was the Season Three closer.) Though we missed several songs and only got see Michaelson play four or five songs we were instantly impressed by Michaelson's voice and her ability to reproduce the intimacy that is felt on her impressive debut album. It was exactly what we wanted to hear. We won't be surprised that the next time she pops through San Francisco that she'll be headlining - we will be early (of course to make sure we actually get to see the set.)

Take the jump to read about Melee...

If you are avid listener to Alice 97.3 then we are sure you have already been introduced to Melee, the Orange County pop-rock-punk-but-mostly-pop four-piece band. Radio Alice was one of the first radio stations in the country to play their first single, "Built to Last" off their debut album, Devils & Angels.

Though a bit confused with the style of music (we still don't know how to distinctly classify it) we were enthused by the completely over-the-top, energetic performance that each band member had. In between the conservative bass guitartist, Ryan Malloy, and other guitarist, Ricky Sans (who had a rock-star hairdo that made Shear Genius' Sally Hershberger shag cut look bad), we had the piano/acoustic guitar/lead-singer, Chris Cron in the center with a tie and jacket. (From where we were standing we never actually saw Mike Nader, the drummer.) Each one seemed to be in a different band by the looks of it.

Like each member, it seems that each song also had a different style! Sometimes they were pop-ish like Maroon 5, but then they would completely morph into a happy-go-lucky-50's-boy-band (especially in the song, "You Make My Dreams.") Then they were off to the rock-inspired song, "Biggest Mistake" that sounded almost like The Killers but landed more in the area of The Click Five. Each one of these bands - Maroon 5, The Killers and The Click Five - each have a very distinct market and fanbase - something that we don't think Melee has yet.

As a band, do they want tweens, teeny-boppers, radio-pop, hipsters, college-age, or adult-contemporary fans? Maybe they want all of us? That might be an unattainable goal even though they have a song that plays to each crowd. Though we enjoyed the music and performance we're worried they're missing their target audience (whoever that might be). Once they are found, we think they'll go big. Guess we'll have to wait and see.

Photos taken by the author.