calling all bed wetters and ambulance chasers

The last of three! It was about a year ago that Colin Meloy embarked on a solo tour, and perhaps this is becoming a new tradition. If it is, he's in good company.

Colin Meloy, El Rey Theatre, January 21, 2006: Oh dear, as if populating his songs with characters that would make even Dickens and Robert Louis Stevenson blush weren't enough, Colin had a stage setup that consisted of a table holding up a small galleon, a stuffed sheep, and a skull. Could the Bard be in his sights?

Fortunately, the skull was named Cheryl, probably not big on the baby register in the Renaissance. Also to his credit, Colin's music is built upon a solid foundation of poetry, melody, and emotion that overshadows the more precious moments he's prone to dreaming up. It's easy to see why the room of mostly underage fans were so taken with him and were ready to follow his every command, from snapping their fingers to banging their heads to closing their eyes and imagining themselves gathered around a campfire in Colorado. He is a masterful storyteller, and his tableaus are a far cry from, for example, the doctored reality programming that seems to have invaded every corner of our culture. And for those of us who can legally drink, it's never a bad thing when you hear not only strains of past influences but also the new twists that remind you how music can still surprise and delight.

The last year of extensive touring and growing acclaim has definitely improved Colin's stage presence, and he stepped up to the challenge of the bigger room, with style to spare. He did a couple of charming new songs, as well as much older tunes from his pre-Decemberists days. Predictably, my favorite songs are about places I know. I figured he had to hit "Los Angeles I'm Yours" in place of "Grace Cathedral Hill," but "California One/Youth and Beauty Brigade" was a nice olive branch.

Laura Viers, the opener, deserved credit as well for presenting herself to a room of someone else's rabid fans, armed only with her guitar and some loopers, it seems. Her more interesting numbers involved layering and other studio-style tricks. Otherwise, her plainer songs had a samey quality.

See also:
» it's been a while
» down the Hyde Street pier
» a writer, a writer of fictions

something inside that was always denied

Hit the ground running, I say on occasion, if the mood strikes me and if I can get off my ass. Chop chop!

Brad Mehldau Trio, El Rey Theatre, January 19, 2006: The first show of the year! And how lucky am I that I get to see it with Heidi and Kande? I had barely taken in a full whiff of the SoCal smog when we were on the freeway, heading up to the Miracle Mile for the first of three shows on the agenda for the weekend.

My interest in Brad Mehldau can be explained in exactly two words that are so obvious I'm not even going to bother typing them, Google's blog search be damned. But interest is interest, right? Even if you aren't equipped to always know what you're interested in. That's my evasive way of saying that I'm woefully unqualified to say much about Brad's show except that it was supercool when I knew what he was doing--that is, for his renditions of "She's Leaving Home" and "Stormy Weather," as well as for a hypnotic bossa nova (according to Heidi) number. Brad claimed to have also performed "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" and "Knives Out," but I can neither confirm nor deny those reports.

What was obvious was Brad's piano mastery and the variations he brought to each song. Also incredibly surprising was the audience, which skewed quite a bit younger than I expected. They were refreshingly reverent, even during his more abstract stretches, though I had no idea why they applauded some passages. Again, I know little of the jazz world, but judging by the way the listeners regarded him, he looks like a rock star to me.

See also:
» the Book of Brion 2 has landed