REVIEW BY IAN HRABE
Last night at the Granada, amid the smell of industrial-strength permanent marker mingled with various perfumes in a crowd of rowdy young women and their boyfriends, I bought everything Jenny Lewis was selling.
Though I've always found the vocals on her solo records to be a bit too thin for her country-folk-gospel songs, by the end of the night I was reminded of why Jenny Lewis is one of my favorite female singers in the business. Her set featured an equal mix of tunes from her debut LP (with the Watson Twins), Rabbit Fur Coat, and her most recent, Acid Tongue.
Openers Deer Tick were excellent. Their ability to turn mellowed alt-country into shit-kicking barroom brawl blues rock on a dime was uncanny, and to bring in most of the songs at or around the three-minute mark was another feat.
A lot of this has to do with gravel-throated frontman John McCauley's penchant for succinct songwriting. Since there was no fat to be trimmed from any of the tunes, there was never any overindulgence, and I never had to impatiently wait for a song to end.
"Easy" and "Little White Lies" perfected tear-in-beer whiskey-soaked alt-country, but the highlight of the show was their cover of John Mellencamp's "Authority Song." Claiming that his throat was killing him and he couldn't "howl on the chorus" like he wanted to, he invited anyone who knew it to join the band on stage. A girl accepted this offer and in turn, provided one of the most memorable show-going experiences I've had in a while. I don't know if she was drunk or had no stage fright whatsoever, but this seemingly normal girl proceeded to totally go for it with crazy dance moves, handstands, and occasional singing. It was a total blast, and while at the moment it seemed like the perfect place for the set to end, McCauley's gorgeous solo electric rendition of John Prine's "Mexican Home" proved to be a better one.
I half expected Jenny Lewis to take the stage in a pair of fishnets and a bodice a la the recent sexed-up indie vixen image she assumed with the latest Rilo Kiley record (ruining the indie-rock-girl-next-door mystique that I loved about her). Instead she wore the exact same T-shirt as John McCauley (which featured a badass cobra) and a little crown of flowers which made her look like some gorgeous red-haired wood nymph.
After swooning for the first half of a beautiful full-band version of Rabbit Fur Coat's "Happy," I was eventually able to focus on the music, in particular, the rest of her band who proved to be the perfect complement to songs I never paid much attention to.
Instead the set being split into rockers and slower tunes, the songs were evenly dispersed. At one moment, the band would be charging through the Dylan-and-the-Band rollick of "See Fernando" and the next Lewis would be breaking my heart with "You Are What You Love." "Carpet Baggers" sounds A MILLION times better with Lewis' songwriting partner (and boyfriend) Jonathan Rice singing the Elvis Costello part (which crippled the song on the record with "random guest appearance" syndrome).
Though I love Lewis' version of the Traveling Wilburys' "Handle With Care," Rice is a way better Roy Orbison than Ben Gibbard (which makes a lot of sense, since he portrayed Orbison in Walk the Line). Harmonies from Rice, drummer Barbara Gruska, and multi-instrumentalist Danielle Haim were excellent at all times, in particular when Gruska and Haim assumed the role of the Watson Twins on certain songs.
Though slower Acid Tongue tracks "Black Sand" and "Pretty Bird" were a bit of a snore, Lewis quickly redeemed herself with a show-stopping solo performance of Rilo Kiley song "Silver Lining." "Jack Killed Mom" sounded even more like a tribute to the White Stripes than it did on the album, and main-set closer, the 9-minute long "The Next Messiah" meandered and got boring the same places live as it did on the album (and still comes off as Lewis' failed attempt at an engaging, Dylanesque long song).
The encore, however, again offered redemption. "Acid Tongue" featured all five members of Lewis' backing band-standing arm in arm around a microphone, providing a wonderfully different mix of voices for the harmonies. New song "Big Wave," which Lewis described as "a song to America from California's perspective" was a complete and utter jam in the vein of vintage Rilo Kiley and had me hoping that she would abandon the twang and return to pop songwriting for her next record.
Somehow, beyond all of my expectations, this ended up being one of the best shows I've seen all year. The sound at the Granada was surprisingly really good, and the audience knew to stay quiet during the quiet songs (which I haven't seen happen in Lawrence in years). Maybe it was the instant charm and energy that Lewis ceaselessly exuded all night long. It was one of those rare occasions where everything about a show just clicks and finds you going home to listen to those songs all over again on your stereo.
Set List
Happy
See Fernando
The Charging Sky
You Are What You Love
Pretty Bird
Carpet Baggers
Black Sand
Jack Killed Mom
Trying My Best to Love You
Silver Lining
Rise Up With Fists!
Just Like Zeus (new)
Handle With Care
The Next Messiah
Encore
Acid Tongue
Big Wave (new)
Born Secular
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