Tuesday, November 25, 2003
KCRW - Sounds Eclectic Evening
Caught this show at the Universal Ampitheatre on Saturday night. I almost sold my seats (dead center, 12th row) to head up to Seattle, but now I'm glad I stuck around.
Desey and I got there early enough to catch all the acts. Gary Jules was good, though he played his cover of "Mad World" on guitar instead of piano and it suffered a bit. Jem played a short 3-song set (introduced by what appeared to be a very constipated Jason Bentley) and was okay but needs to lose the American Idol moves. Her band was a guy on bass/guitar and a DJ.
Liz Phair did nothing for me, but there was a guy a few rows behind us that couldn't stop screaming for her. Surprise guest Shelby Lynne was great, especially the song she wrote "40 years too late for Patsy Cline."
As for Beck, he was worth the price of admission alone. I was so very happy to hear some songs from "Sea Change" played exactly the way they should've been: solo acoustic. An extended beatbox & keyboard jam (including a mash of "Hot in Here" with "Where It's At") balanced out the set with some funky fun. balance to the set And his 70s cop/porn star mustache is hot.
Jurassic 5 followed and kept the energy up, managing to get the very white and middle aged KCRW crowd on their feet. Damien Rice was definitely the surprise hit, kind of like an Irish upcountry Thom Yorke with a kick-ass band, among them a spookily beautiful backup singer who was like a cross between Bjork and the singer from Mazzy Star. At Damien's insistence, they turned all the stage lights off for one of his songs, eventually the plunging the entire ampitheatre into near-total darkness. Never, ever seen that happen before.
The afterparty was fun but brrrrrr - it was freezing that night. The ugly, boy-in-a-plastic-bubble tent served its purpose in function if not form. Didn't do a whole lot of dancing there, just mixing & mingling with random people who happened to be sitting by us, including a girl who somehow fell backwards onto a little round seat that was covered in cocktails, causing a huge explosion of ice and booze and plastic that would've sucked to suffer thorough if it hadn't been so funny.
Desey and I got there early enough to catch all the acts. Gary Jules was good, though he played his cover of "Mad World" on guitar instead of piano and it suffered a bit. Jem played a short 3-song set (introduced by what appeared to be a very constipated Jason Bentley) and was okay but needs to lose the American Idol moves. Her band was a guy on bass/guitar and a DJ.
Liz Phair did nothing for me, but there was a guy a few rows behind us that couldn't stop screaming for her. Surprise guest Shelby Lynne was great, especially the song she wrote "40 years too late for Patsy Cline."
As for Beck, he was worth the price of admission alone. I was so very happy to hear some songs from "Sea Change" played exactly the way they should've been: solo acoustic. An extended beatbox & keyboard jam (including a mash of "Hot in Here" with "Where It's At") balanced out the set with some funky fun. balance to the set And his 70s cop/porn star mustache is hot.
Jurassic 5 followed and kept the energy up, managing to get the very white and middle aged KCRW crowd on their feet. Damien Rice was definitely the surprise hit, kind of like an Irish upcountry Thom Yorke with a kick-ass band, among them a spookily beautiful backup singer who was like a cross between Bjork and the singer from Mazzy Star. At Damien's insistence, they turned all the stage lights off for one of his songs, eventually the plunging the entire ampitheatre into near-total darkness. Never, ever seen that happen before.
The afterparty was fun but brrrrrr - it was freezing that night. The ugly, boy-in-a-plastic-bubble tent served its purpose in function if not form. Didn't do a whole lot of dancing there, just mixing & mingling with random people who happened to be sitting by us, including a girl who somehow fell backwards onto a little round seat that was covered in cocktails, causing a huge explosion of ice and booze and plastic that would've sucked to suffer thorough if it hadn't been so funny.
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