fantastic voyage

Night 2! As Mike said, it's almost a festival! I had no choice but to hit both nights.

Jon Brion, Largo at the Coronet, November 8, 2025

We were welcomed by the same setup tonight: the piano, with all of its accessories, and some guitars. Once again, Jon the professor took the stage. After settling in with a late pint of Guinness, he opened on the piano of course. I had no idea what the composition could be, but as it turned out, Jon was in a didactic mood tonight. At the end of the 15-minute (maybe 20) performance, he told us it was Aaron Copland's "Our Town."

Jon followed up with two of his works, the unreleased "Trial and Error" and the theme from Ladybird. I have to admit I didn't recognize the second one, though I knew it was a soundtrack track. As Jon was feeling talkative, he told us exactly what he played. I've since become familiar with a specific riff in the song, and it's become a regular part of his playlist.

He asked for requests and granted a suggestion for David Bowie. I don't recall if someone asked specifically for "Fantastic Voyage" because -- let's face it -- how many people know that song? Jon himself forgot some of the lyrics, but no one was holding it against him.

From there, we got a block of Jon's original tracks. "Same Mistakes" had a long instrumental intro on that bionic piano for a twist, and "The Girl I Knew" stumped even me for a little bit with the reimagined introduction.

I can't recall if Jon asked for requests or someone yelled it out, but we got the timeless "More Than This." For as many times as I've heard Jon perform this song, he coaxed out even more notes that I didn't know existed in the song. I'll take 10 of those every time.

Jon also went into George Harrison, but "Someone to Watch Over Me" was the magnum opus, which is often the case at Largo. It went all over the place, as is Jon's wont, and when you thought he'd wrung every note out of it, he came back with a new riff. But that's just a Friday at Largo.

For the encore, Jon threatened to play "atonal 20-minute versions" of selected songs, and to start, he went with a soundtrack title. I think it was something from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, but I can't confirm.

But in a twist, Jon consulted with his tech and revealed to us that he had a message from Andrew McPherson, the inventor of Jon's new favorite instrument. Andrew was on the other end of the FaceTime as he listened and watched the performance. Jon also informed us that the piano was the only one of its kind in the United States.

Jon closed with a mostly straightforward version of "Knock Yourself Out," but took advantage of the magnets in the piano on a couple of passages. For all of the twists and turns in his shows, it's no surprise that he comes back to his classics.

Setlist
piano
Trial and Error
Theme from Ladybird
Fantastic Voyage
Same Mistakes
Love of My Life So Far
The Girl I Knew
You Made the Girl
More Than This
Isn't It a Pity
Someone to Watch Over Me

Encore
soundtrack song?
Knock Yourself Out