My favorite artist in the whole wide world (WWW), Irish dance-pop goddess Róisín Murphy, played a five-song acoustic set last night at the after party for the fashion show of her longtime friend, designer Kai Kühne. The venue — the National Arts Club on Gramercy Park — was intimate, but crazy-packed and loud — many of the partygoers wouldn’t even shut up while she was singing! I wanted to murder them. But I didn’t!
After her set, Róisín kept drifting back and forth through the crowd, indulging obsessive fans whose audacity (obnoxiousness?) I very much envied. My partner-in-party-crashing Missy Schwartz kept nudging me towards her, aggressively whispering missives along the lines of "Seize the day!" and other sweet, sweet nothings. We didn’t have an interview set up, so I had no legit reason to bother Róisín. I was just there on last-minute notice as a super fan. The voices in my head began to argue. (Don’t bug her! She’s used to it. What are you even gonna say, fool? JUST SAY HI — you’ll never have another chance!) I imagined the thousands of ways I could mess this up. Maybe I’d whip out a color printout of my desktop background (Róisín’s Overpowered album cover silhouetted against the Candy Land game board) and say something terrible like "Check it out — YOU’RE ALWAYS ON MY COMPUTER." Or I’d force her to inspect the back of my iPod, on which is engraved a quote from the Moloko (Róisín’s former band) song "Forever More" — feel it furious / the fire burns on. And she’d have to politely pretend to be able to read the tiny letters amidst my disgusting finger smudges, in a darkened, incredibly noisy room. I shuddered. Suddenly she was right there.
In the end, I awkwardly spit out around 18 variations of the general concept of "I love you/I’m obsessed with you" which was both A) a major understatement and B) possibly creepier than the hypothetically embarrassing scenarios mentioned above. But, of course, she was totally sweet about it. So that’s my story. I love/am obsessed with Róisín Murphy. For better or worse, now she knows.
Have you ever completely wigged out in the presence of a pop-culture obsession?
More Róisín Murphy:
I got ‘Overpowered’ by Róisín Murphy at Mansion in NYC (Oct. ’08)
Róisín Murphy’s ‘You Know Me Better’ video: There are no words
Seriously, just spend a half hour watching all her crazy videos
I just discovered Roisin’s music about a month ago, after a friend recomended her and i can’t stop listening to her! She’s phenomenal! I now turn on Ramalama Bang Bang everytime I walk to class, and Ruby Blue everytime I drive. I’m going to get into a car accident eventually, but whatev.
HUGE Roisin fan here as well! First heard of her when “Ruby Blue” was on the “Grey’s Anatomy” soundtrack and have since bought both of her solo albums…”Overpowered” is constantly getting played…”Movie Star” one of the best pop/dance songs EVER! So jealous you got to see/hear/meet her in person!
I would’ve died if i had the chance to talk to Roisin! I hate this country for ignoring pop goddesses like Kylie and Roisin and embracing people like Lil Wayne and Miley Cyrus. UGH! I will forever pay the extra charges for importing anything Roisin for across the pond!
Annie, I have totally been there! I was at ACL 2008 and saw Brit Daniel walk right in front of me. I stopped so suddenly my sister ran into me as I’m sputtering “That’s Brit Daniel, lead singer of Spoon” over and over. She had the good sense to run after him. I finally caught up and he offered to take a picture with me. While it was awesome I couldn’t think of anything cool to say to him. It was like my mouth didn’t work! The only thing I could think to say was “I really liked you on Veronica Mars.” Luckily that never came out but I wish I didn’t just stand there like a moron.
Oh, the many times I have done the mindless “I love you, man” speech when the real words were frozen in my brain…
I met Joss Whedon last week and nothing that came out of my mouth made much sense. I’m pretty sure I said “Thank You” about 15 times before any sort of conversation took place. Not my classiest moment.
Had a similar experience with John Krasinski a few years ago.
Where idols are concerned, I only speak moron.
Roisin is fantastic. Beyond her solo albums, all of the Moloko catalogue is highly recommended – especially ‘Do You Like My Tight Sweater?’. You should also check her collaborations with a variety of DJs/dance music producers.
Don’t know if she’s necessarily a pop culture obsession, but
Patti
freaking
LuPone!
I flipped majorly.
this was the cutest story ever.
reading all the thoughts that went through your head are exactly the same thoughts that went through mine as i almost almost got the chance to speak to the lady herself at her mansion show last october.
sadly, i didnt. but thats probably for good reason. im positive i would have clammed up without any audible words coming out of my mouth, just standing there looking at her like some God.
not that i do that on a regular basis already or anything…
because i so do.
xx
tenseventen.blogspot.com
I didn’t freak when I met Will Smith, although I sure as heck did as soon as I was in my car calling everyone! That pic with him is still on my Myspace. How I thank my mother for telling me he was at the movie theater.
I met Gavin DeGraw five years ago, before he was really famous and “I Don’t Wanna Be” had started to annoy the hell out of everyone on the planet. I met him after a concert, and I was so awe-struck I just blurted out, “Thank you for doing what you do!” His answer was something really self-deprecating, like, “It’s the only thing I know how to do,” and I, in my infinite wisdom, replied, “Well, you do it so well!” Ugh. Not one of my more eloquent moments. My friends still make fun of me about that.
In 2001 I met Cyndi Lauper and Gabriel Byrne after the John Lennon Tribute Concert in NYC. I’ve been huge fans of both since I was a kid but somehow my friend and I kept our composure, and since we were the only ones standing outside at the time while deciding if we had time to eat before catching the bus home, we had a few minutes of conversation with each and took photos. They were super nice and gracious. One of the best nights ever! Now if I ever met anyone from Bon Jovi it might be a different story…LOL
i’ve had my fair share of ridiculous celebrity interactions, and each time, i’ve pretty much made a fool out of myself. hey – at least i made an impression!
I’d love to get the chance to humiliate myself in front of 10-years-younger-than-me Joe Jonas. Love that kid.
ok annie you and i are in complete agreement. roisin is the most amazing artist lyrically musically visually. i, myself, am completely in love/obbbsssesssdddd with her. so keep posting and i have my fingers crossed that one day she’ll come to atlanta