Aimee Mann went through a golden age, beginning with her first solo album, continuing with a masterpiece in I'm With Stupid, and followed by her peak achievement, Bachelor # 2,. around about then came the "why is this woman not a star?" Time magazine interview, the breakthrough Magnolia soundtrack, and a steady, not tumultuous, but noticeable, decline.Aimee has always taken herself too seriously, but there is taking yourself too seriously and there is being a smug twit. Lost In Space was a downer with its moments, The Forgotten Arm an over ambitious mess of a rock opera.
It has been around 15 years since I was in the front row at a half empty Irving Plaza, almost broken hearted with pleasure as she pushed "Par For The Course" to the outer limits of pain. But by the early 2000 the thrill has gone.
So why am I going to The Town Hall on Saturday, October 27th, 2012? Because she has either been in Brooklyn or performing Christmas shows he last couple of years and I am ready for a full length Aimee Mann concert and now I've got it. Because I'm gonna put some hope in the bottom of the box.