Live: Regina Spektor Hurts Herself

Regina Spektor
Canal Room, New York City

"You guys are treating me like a puppy," joked Regina Spektor in the middle of her intimate gig in downtown NYC yesterday afternoon. While the singer-songwriter's huge eyes are indeed puppy-like, the crowd's constant "aww!"'s came as a result of watching her hobble around the stage thanks to a bum ankle. But while she's made a name for herself thanks to coffeehouse-friendly hits like "Better" and "Fidelity," the pop pianist showed she had some bark to go along with her limp yesterday.

Part of the Tribeca Film Festival's week-long daytime music series, the super-small solo show (she's sold out spaces at least 10 times bigger than the couch-filled Canal Room in New York) gave Spektor the chance to pretend she was once again just another downtown troubadour looking for a break. And even in her semi-handicapped state, she managed to whack the crap out of a chair and play piano at the same time when she wasn't using her trademark hiccuping vocals to add rhythm to offbeat ditties about lost love. And the show's best moment came during meta live favorite "Bobbing for Apples," about the unexpected pitfalls of mass popularity. The hook: "Someone next door's f*cking to one of my songs."