Last night I saw Jens Lekman and Tig Notaro at the Bottom of the Hill.

I’ve seen Jens a few times before (including at the Bottom of the Hill last year). In the last couple years, it’s clear that Jens, who always was a dynamic performer, has become a consummate performer and showman. Last night was no different and, if anything, was something even more special than I saw before.

But first, I will quickly cover the opener, Tig Notaro. This isn’t a stand up comedy blog, but I can say that her set was pretty funny and I enjoyed it. She particularly interacted with the audience well. Good times.

Back to Jens: seeing him is not like seeing most indie rock performers. “A Postcard to Nina” is a good example of what I’m talking about. Other performers might introduce the song, or tell a quick story behind it, but Jens gives a lengthy tale before and interspersed throughout the song. Quirky details and his sincere, almost innocent, delivery had the audience at turns laughing and engrossed. Either way, we were fully engaged with the performance.

playing the air bells along with the end of “Opposite of Hallelujah”

Playing with a five piece (Jens + violin, bass, drums, keyboards/ samples), he seemed set of playing his ‘hits’ throughout the evening. He played ‘Black Cab’, ‘Maple Leaves’, ‘Your Arms Around Me’ and ‘The Opposite of Hallelujah’ without any complaints from the audience. The band also played a number of new songs. At least in the live setting the songs had a decidedly Paul Simon Graceland* rhythm feel, though not guitar, to them. It reminded me that Jens has unironically covered “You Can Call Me Al” before.

He seemed willing to acknowledge his connection to pop music throughout the set. During “Opposite of Hallelujah” he dipped into “Give Me Just a Little More Time” before coming back to “Opposite” to finish out the songs. During another song, he quoted “Do You Wanna Dance?” in the middle.

When the band re-entered the stage for the encore, he said to the band, “Actually, let’s do that song, but let’s do it really slow tonight” and then played a pretty straight-forward cover of “Water Runs Dry” by Boyz II Men. During the applause he asked if that brought us back to the early 90s and, in a great segue, launched into the Warren G-referencing “Sweet Summer Night on Hammer Hill.”

After the band exited for a second time, the applause wouldn’t stop and Jens came back solo for another encore, playing “Shirin” first and then playing a song he introduced by saying “I haven’t played this in years”. It was a gorgeous version of “Rocky Dennis’ Farewell Song To The Blind Girl.” And that was a beautiful way to end a great set and a really fun show.

*aka Zulu street guitar-style

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009 at 11:39 pm Posted by adrian in SF bay area, live review, photos. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.