Ingrid Michaelson fans lined up as early as 3 p.m. Monday night to hear the singer perform in Zorn Arena at UW-Eau Claire.

While the majority of students arrived around 6 p.m., Beth Proctor, an Eau Claire alumni, and her friend Jessica Nelson said they were one of five girls who endured the frigid cold with hot cocoa at 3 p.m. to get good seats to the concert.

 

“I have been a fan of her for a while,” Proctor said. “I am so excited to finally hear her perform.”

The two traveled about an hour to attend the concert in Zorn, and Proctor said it was worth the wait to get their third row seats.

They had originally planned to attend a summer concert of Michaelson’s in Arcadia, but it was cancelled. Shortly after, Proctor said she found out she would be performing at the university.

“This worked out way better,” Nelson said. “We got lunch and went shopping, we made a whole day of it.”
Michaelson got her start when she recorded her second album, Girls and Boys, and streamed it on Myspace in 2006. A “Grey’s Anatomy” music producer found her music, and soon the song “The Way I Am” hit 37 on the Billboard Hot 100. Since then, Michaelson has released four more albums under her Cabin 24 Records label.

She is known for her up-beat hits “Be OK,” “The Way I Am” and “You and I.”

The Staten Island singer/songwriter released her latest album, Lights Out, in April.

Her last two albums come with slightly darker tones than her earlier, brighter works. The hit “Girls Chase Boys” sat at number 26 on Ryan Seacrest’s Top 40 on Monday, just under Coldplay’s “A Sky Full of Stars.”

Chris Koza opened the concert with a half hour selection of tunes, including “The Wolves and The Raven”, which he wrote and performed for the soundtrack of “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.”

Michaelson herself brought the crowd to their feet, cheering and stomping as the lights dimmed before she came on stage. Her hits included several off her “Lights Out” album, but she told the audience she also dug through old tunes to perform for this tour.

As far as concerts go, Michaelson told them she was very

excited about their receptiveness to her music.

“You guys are my favorite audience,” she said to the crowd. “I will be coming back.”

After leaving the stage, the crowd clapped and cheered until she and her band members came back out for an encore, including an a capella version of “Warpath” and ending the evening with a powerful performance of “Afterlife.”

Lara Bockenstedt, a sophomore and University Activities Commission member, said it had originally been Michaelson’s idea to come to Eau Claire since she is a fan of Justin Vernon.

“She really wanted to come here and be a part of the music culture and she really wanted to make that work,” Bockenstedt said. “Everything just went really smoothly.”

She and other members of the UAC were able to meet Michaelson before the show, and Bockenstedt said, having been a fan since 2010, the brief interaction was inspiring.

Of the concert itself, she said there were no words to describe it.

“Transcendental,” she said. “She has this enigmatic quality to her music. You feel the happy, you feel the sad. She writes emotional songs and that’s reflected in her performance.”