Jon Brion, Largo at the Coronet, December 22, 2017
You know the drill. This has been my favorite musical event of the year for the last decade-plus, and 2017 was no different. In fact, I feel like I needed this one more than ever because even as the rest of the world has gone to shit, Largo has remained true. Stay gold, Ponyboy!The calendar says I went to three Jon Brion shows this year, which is about my average nowadays. I can't speak of any ongoing trends at Largo, but the last two shows I've attended have featured an opening slot filled by a famous comedian -- sorta like the old days on Fairfax. Tonight, we got Sarah Silverman trying fresh material before our eyes. I'm not sure if I've actually seen Sarah's standup; perhaps I caught a set back at the smaller club, but I can't vouch for it. Anyway, she was fantastic onstage, even as she scanned from her notes to try to connect points she had jotted down. Her material was fresher than the cold-pressed juice for sale from the finer vendors on Santa Monica Avenue, and I'm curious to hear how she further refines her thoughts.
Jon was next, and my notes read "victimless amateur porn smile," which confused me at first, reading them two-plus weeks after the show. But in recounting Sarah's portion of the evening, I now realize it was a nod to a bit about her masturbation techniques and how they differ from the popular image perpetuated by mainstream porn. Whew, glad that's all cleared up!
Before I proceed, I should mention that Jon has a good array of instruments onstage, but not the full load, depending on which shows you've seen. That is, he had several guitars, a drum kit, a Leslie cabinet, a couple of microphones, a Korg synthesizer, a pedal steel set, and either a chamberlin or a mellotron (I don't know the difference). If you're curious, that meant no video screens or mixers and no vibes (as seen in previous Christmas shows); also, the usual jungle of chords when he's in heavy looping mode was absent.
Jon quickly fessed to having throat problems. He sounded fine while speaking and held it together well when he chose to sang -- but more details on that later. Instead, he threatened to stick to the lower range of Morrissey, Chet Baker, and Howlin' Wolf for his song selections.
His opening piano exercise somehow morphed into "Merry Fucking War on Christmas," according to my notes, but I can't offer more detail. However, I can say he delivered on his promised performers with a Smiths song, then a Chet Baker favorite. Alas, I don't think we got Howlin' Wolf as a follow-up.
In a further move to preserve his voice, Jon reached into a collection of records he had brought onstage and found an appropriate title. He settled on the DIY Psychoanalysis Kit and played some tunes over it, adding a beat, bass (via the synth), and piano. This again reminded me of the old place, as Scott in the sound booth would cue up an odd retro album and Jon would react as his whims took him. Somehow, this led into a Christmas song medley with all of your favorites. I'm old-fashioned in that I like when Jon's December shows incorporate a Christmas theme, so no complaints here.
Jon returned to the usual program with "Knock Yourself Out," then asked us for requests accompanied by a wish of his own: Sing along! We did the best we could with "Life on Mars," but not as much as with the next tune, "Bohemian Rhapsody." Fortunately, I seemed to be the only person in the room with no grasp of the song, as it was probably the best singalong I've ever heard at Largo. Granted, I've taken in plenty of good ones, but perhaps our seats in the third row (and not the usual first row) helped highlight the sound. As a nonparticipant, I was impressed.
Next came our first guest of the night: Fred Armisen, whom you may know from Saturday Night Live and Portlandia, among other showcases. After a little banter with Jon, he went to the drums and demonstrated how not to play them in a number of styles: jazz, reggae, Ringo, and Keith Moon. I'm doing no justice to his bit, except to say that we were soooooo close to hearing "Baba O'Riley" when he and Jon went in on the last segment.
Jon then switched to guitar and invited a man I didn't recognize to the stage to play bass with the combo. I believe his name was Steve; as you'll see, the lack of last names will be a theme of the night. Together, the trio tore into a bunch of instrumental tracks. I wish I could name the Dick Dale selection for you, but rest assured it wasn't "Wipeout." From there, "Sleepwalk" was a no-brainer, and we should've seen the "Peter Gunn Theme" coming.
Jon asked for more requests and chose the one from a guy sitting a couple of seats down from me: "Time of the Season." Of course, he asked for our participation, and we did the best we could, though it was no comparison to "Bohemian Rhapsody." The song was a nice reminder to me of the former crowd favorite -- not that it's fallen out of favor, only that it's been a while since I've heard anyone bring it up, and overall, it's a great feelgood track.
The second guest then emerged, and I can't tell you his last name to save my life. Nonetheless, Jon summoned Joel to the mic for a number of songs. He had a warm, expressive voice, and he seemed to favor relatively obscure Neil Young tracks. He also landed on "The Man Who Sold the World" and "Waterloo Sunset," the latter in a more traditional clip than we're used to hearing with Jon. Strangely, for two of the most familiar songs, "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" and "Cortez the Killer," Jon took the vocals and Joel didn't do a whole lot. I think he was searching his phone for lyrics to the former, but sort of wandered off-stage in the middle of the latter.
As you might've guessed, Jon handled "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" on piano, but switched to electric guitar for "Cortez the Killer." For the latter, he also asked Steve to return to the stage and invited up a new drummer: a woman named Page (Paige?), whom I believe to be his girlfriend. Don't ask me how I know this, and I have nothing else to share, but I might as well mention it. She did a great job, by the way.
Jon handled a jazzy piano segment by himself, then a mysterious hand slipped him a piece of paper. With that note, he asked Sia to join him onstage. I often boast of the stars I've seen onstage at Largo, but I know that most of them don't quite register with the average consumer. Of course, I'll always have my Kanye West and Michel Gondry sightings, but a bonafide pop star hasn't been around in a while. Sia qualifies as such a star.
She also had the quote of the evening: "I've been sober for seven years, but I feel like I took a lot of acid tonight." That should give you an idea of how terribly sober my account is and how I manage to take the fun out of everything.
They started with her own "Snowman," from her current collection of Christmas songs, then took requests from the audience. First up was "Silent Night," and we mostly failed when we hit the second verse. Sia theatrically shrugged away her shortcomings with the lyrics, but gamely carried on. Her third and last song was also a request from the audience, and this time she willingly ceded the stage and the microphone to a couple who joined her from the first row. The young man had a great command of the lyrics and exuded confidence, even looking back at Jon a few times to urge him to keep pace with his cadence. Too bad we can't say the same for his actual singing (in)ability. But oh, that stage presence! The pros onstage couldn't have been more gracious and welcoming to him.
(Being a good digital citizen/snoop, after the show, I tried to find a professional connection between Jon and Sia, but turned up nothing. If you happen to know how they're linked, please send me a note. But honestly, how have these two musical geniuses not worked together before?? Anyway, it doesn't matter because it happened and I got to see them with my own eyes.)
Jon cleansed the palate with his own combo of "Punch-Drunk Melody" and "Strings That Tie to You" before bringing Fred back for a few. At first, he asked if Fred knew any Christmas songs, and Fred replied that Christmas made him think of the Clash. Thus, Fred (on electric guitar) launched into "Train in Vain" with the aforementioned Steve on bass and Jon on drums, then piano. In fact, for a spell, both Fred and Steve watched Jon mess with the piano strings, even as they played along. The jazz combo also tried to cobble together a freeform Christmas song -- something about "I hate Christmas and every holiday."
To close out, Jon asked for audience and band participation to narrow down his selection. Together, we chose medium and old, and Jon obliged with "Whiter Shade of Pale." I can't tell you how Jon comes to these decisions, but somehow his choices make a ton of sense.
And for the capper, Jon figured he might as well blow out what was left of his vocal chords, as he paired Dylan and Waits for "Positively Fourth Street" -- because he can. As you can imagine, we weren't invited to the Little Room for the aftershow this evening, but we could hardly ask for more.
Setlist
Sarah Silverman opener
-- piano
-- Merry Fucking War on Christmas
-- Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now
-- Everything Happens to Me
-- Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas/Jingle Bells/White Christmas/Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy
-- Knock Yourself Out
-- Life on Mars
-- Bohemian Rhapsody
-- "how not to play drums" *
-- Dick Dale song/Sleepwalk/Peter Gunn Theme/Secret Agent Man *
-- Time of the Season
-- Birds **
-- Man Who Sold the World **
-- Waterloo Sunset **
-- I Believe in You **
-- Only Love Can Break Your Heart **
-- Cortez the Killer **
-- piano
-- Snowman ***
-- Silent Night ***
-- My Favorite Things ***
-- Punch Drunk Melody
-- Strings That Tie to You
-- Train in Vain ****
-- freeform Christmas song ****
-- Whiter Shade of Pale ****
-- Positively 4th Street
* = with Fred Armisen
** = with Joel
*** = with Sia
**** = with Fred Armisen and band
Ghosts of Christmas past:
» let your heart be light
» i'm offering this simple phrase
» it's been said many times, many ways
» with soul power
» it's the end of the things you know
» you could say one recovers
» a really good time
» the things you do to keep yourself intact
» i've heard a rumor from ground control
» strangest times
» i'll be a rock 'n' rolling bitch for you
» purple rain
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