While trolling WXPN’s website on a Tuesday for XPoNential Music Festival schedule updates, Mama noticed that their upcoming Free at Noon concert would feature Kate Miller-Heidke. Mama called to Carter in the next room to tell him that the opening act from when we saw Ben Folds and a Piano back in April would be playing the Free at Noon on Friday at World Café Live. Carter instantly appeared in the doorway and asked, “well, can we go?” Mama couldn’t think of any reason why we couldn’t, so we reserved our spots, booked some train tickets, and got psyched.
Mama: Philadelphia is a really easy day trip for us, especially by train. World Café Live is less than two blocks from 30th Street Station, so we planned to go out there, catch the show, grab a bite to eat, and hop the train back home by late afternoon.
Carter: The train is a good place to read because it’s usually silent and if you’re sitting next to a stranger sometimes they don’t talk at all.
Mama: But on that train ride, we got to sit together and have breakfast and talk and read our books. And when we got there, we had some time to kill before the show, so we got to run over to Capogiro at 13th & Sansom and have gelato.
Carter: Capogiro is the most delicious, heavenly gelato place in the world.
Mama: It's definitely one of my Happy Places. I try to always stop there at least once on every trip Philly. After our mid-morning gelato, we walked up to the Avenue of the Arts and got a cab back up to World Café Live.
Carter: When we got to World Café, the doors to the downstairs venue weren’t open yet, but we got to line up and they checked our names off the list and gave us door prize tickets for tickets to some other show (we didn't win). Then they opened the doors and we went in and I got us seats right in front of the stage.
Mama: Kate Miller-Heidke is already a pop star in Australia, but her recent stateside appearances are her first U.S. headlining shows. She sings and plays the keyboard. She’s accompanied by her husband, Keir Nuttall, who is a fantastic guitarist.
When she came out to start playing, she opened with “Space They Cannot Touch,” which is one of my favorites. She’s a trained soprano – an opera singer – which gives her pop songs a distinct flavor. She’s also incredibly charming.
Carter: When she hits the high notes it startles me because I’m used to pop music more than opera.
Mama: I saw you jump a few times when she sang high notes. It sounds pretty though, doesn’t it?
Carter: Yes it does!
Mama: Carter asked me before the show started if I thought she’d play his favorite song. I told him it wasn’t suitable for radio, and since they broadcast Free at Noon concerts live on WXPN, there was no way she’d play it.
Carter: But they finished the broadcast, and she came out for an encore, and said, “here’s a song that’s not suitable for the radio.” When she said that, I laughed really hard because I knew it was my song.
Mama: You really like songs that use curse words. I thought it was fun to see the people around us react, because most of them were probably hearing it for the first time. They were cracking up. It was fun to watch them have the same response to it that we had when we heard her play it back in April. We already knew the punchline.
Carter: Afterwards they had meet & greet and I got her autograph.
Mama: We brought our CD from home. It was lucky for us that we got an opportunity to meet her, because when we saw her at the Hershey Theatre, the meet & greet area was too crowded to get near her. This was a much better set-up. She was very gracious. She seems like such a lovely person.
Carter: Then we went upstairs for lunch and I had the best burger ever. The bun tasted like garlic bread. Then I looked over and saw Kate Miller-Heidke and her husband having lunch a few tables over.
Mama: World Café Live is such a great, intimate venue. We’ve seen a lot of really great shows there, both in the upstairs area and the larger downstairs venue. It’s become one of my favorite places. Do you remember the first show we saw there?
Carter: Sara Bareilles!
Mama: Another lovely, funny, and talented singer/songwriter. Tony Lucca was the opener at that show. And now I have Tony Lucca lyrics tattooed on me! That was the first time I'd ever heard him.
Carter: Anyway, then we walked back to the train station and went home.
Mama: See? I told you. Easy trip.
Check back soon for our reviews of these live shows: The Felice Brothers, highlights from the XPoNential Music Festival, and Dawes at the Capitol Theatre!
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