live version: Anna Ternheim

I saw Anna Ternheim last night at Bowery Ballroom. She was the first of three acts, but she was the reason I went, along with my friend Ayana. First off, I think I gasped when she took the stage because she's absolutely beautiful. Her set list:

Better be (Anna on guitar & with pianist)
(with band from Loney Dear)
-Let it rain
-Black Sunday
-To be gone
-What have I done
-No I don’t remember
I’ll follow you tonight (again only Anna & pianist)

I was so happy that the one song I was hoping she'd play was the first and Ayana's favorite was the one she played last. She also played the two songs that mean the most to me, "To be gone" (which is actually my ringtone) and "What have I done" (which is the first song of hers I heard, back in the spring.) She announced that she would be signing her CDs after the set, but I hadn't brought any with me to be signed- never expecting that she would be doing that. However, we went to the merch table & since there were no t-shirts (I love the designs for her latest album) I bought a tote bag and a trio of badges, which you can also purchase from her website.
This is the t-shirt I was hoping to find, but the tote has the same great design:


We waited a few minutes and soon she came down the stairs. She saw me & said "Oh, you bought a bag! I must sign it!" I went "really?" and thanked her for coming to play. Then Ayana said "It's his birthday, can you give him a hug? He speaks Swedish!" to which I replied, "no, no... no..." But I did tell her that her music has really helped get me through the last year, to which she seemed thankful. Ayana spoke to her about a town in Sweden where she'd spent a summer and was thrilled that Anna spoke a little Swedish when she replied. Also, she is as tall as me, which was surprising. So lovely! Anyway, we walked back up to Union Square to catch our trains, only then did I unfold the tote bag to see the autograph, which reads: "Happy Birthday! Anna Ternheim." It's actually incredibly awesome, as Ayana randomly bought me a pair of black Converse last year as a birthday gift - in October. And since I probably wouldn't have stayed to wait if it had just been me (to avoid saying something as open and raw as "your music has really gotten me through the last year") I wouldn't have gotten my bag signed without her.