part of everyone's rite of passage

You know the drill: When there's one Largo show on my schedule, it's highly likely another one lurks around the corner, even if I have to buy tickets on faith alone. As luck would have it, a while after setting down the bucks for Greg Proops's chat show, we received word of even better news: The guests for the evening would be none other than Jon Brion and Jason Schwartzman.

The Greg Proops Chat Show, Largo at the Coronet, August 30, 2008: What do you know? According to this very blog, the only other Greg Proops headlining gig I've seen at Largo (the old one, obviously) took place exactly two years ago to the day. It's official: I'm the most predictable person on the face of the earth.

True to form, I'll address the music portion of the show first. Greg rolled out a magnanimous introduction for Jon, who honored those kind words with a triumvirate of songs. We had heard two of them, "Same Thing" and "Knock Yourself Out," the night before, but you couldn't call either a carbon copy of the earlier performance. The variations included an extended chamberlin passage in "Same Thing" and the slow build of "Knock Yourself Out."

In between Jon's mini sets, Greg gave us hell and what for on a number of topics, including ABBA, the new "90210" TV series, Michael Jackson, and of course, the presidential election. For all his mockery, however, he revealed his true colors later in the interview with Jason Schwartzman, when they both admitted their fondness for ABBA. We should've seen that coming.

I really wanted to hate Jason Schwartzman. Despite the fact that he was in "Rushmore," one of my favorite movies (and movie soundtracks) of all time, the one Phantom Planet gig I saw so many years ago left a bad taste in my mouth. To this day, I can instantly call up the disdain I felt before I walked out of the show.

However, Jason was all charm, which is probably even more notable as he and Greg had just met earlier that day. They nattered on about Venice, French coffee presses, lots of cool films and music, and much more, unselfishly offering each other turns at the mic and engaging in what sounded like real discourse. They were adorable, and I wanted to rush home and rent "The Darjeeling Limited."



At the conclusion of their conversation, Jon returned with Jason's (by all measures) absurd-looking double-neck Hofner guitar, which he promptly draped over the actor's shoulders. Also making an appearance was Benmont Tench, newly arrived from a show in Houston with that other band, and the three of them shuffled into "I'm Only Sleeping," which made ample use of Jason's toy.

Setlist
--Happy with You
--Same Thing
--Knock Yourself Out

with Jason Schwartzman and Benmont Tench
--I'm Only Sleeping

See also:
» sometimes when this place gets kinda empty
» used to be one of the rotten ones