6/23/09: Jenny Lewis

Jenny Lewis has me in love with her again. It seems like everytime I see a video of her performing or even just her sing through my turntable, I fall for her once more. So imagine what seeing her live does for me.

The first time I saw Jenny was, as previously referred to a few months ago, at last fall's ACL Festival. I had known who she was and heard "Rise Up With Fists" and a couple Rilo Kiley songs, but otherwise I did not have much previous exposure to her. The only reason we went to see her is because we had a gap in our schedule and I suggested it. I was blown away by both her singing and her band's playing. Since then I've been hooked.

This time we went to see her at the Granada Theater in Dallas. Now I've only been there once before, but I've officially decided that it's the best venue in the city. The theater room is the perfect size for an intimate show that can still hold a fair amount of people. Plus it is decorated in a classy/cool way that I'm not really good at describing but I assure you is nice. My only qualm would be that the entrance/lobby area is a little small and it is hard to get by people who are standing there, but that has nothing to do with the show. Heartless Bastards opened, but sadly we missed them because we were slow getting over there, showing up probably only a few minutes after they ended. At least I had seen them before and will get the chance to see them again in October.

Jenny comes out and is looking great as usual. They open with their good-time shuffle "See Fernando". I can't remember the exact order of the set but I know songs that were pretty early on included "Pretty Bird", "Jack Killed Mom", "Happy" (probably my second favorite song of hers. By the way, shut up during the quieter songs you hipsters. I didn't come to here you yell, "Woo!". Not that I advocate it, but I can understand why Roger Waters spit on a fan back in '77).

I noticed the band had slightly different personnel this time around. The drummer, steel guitarist, and lead acoustic guitarist (not sure if that's a position but I'm making it one) Jonathan Rice (also the singer's boyfriend. I've listen to his last solo album and wasn't that impressed. Guess they make a good song writing team) were all the same, but they had a new bassist, as well as a new guitarist/percussionist that looked like she could've been Jenny's younger sister. Jenny had a keyboard this time instead of a piano (probably didn't feel like hauling around), which made the songs with it sound ever so slightly different but got the job done. I felt the band I saw the first time was a little better but there was nothing wrong with this crew. Farmer Dave Scher, the guy that usually plays steel guitar, is very solid.

Jenny Lewis' voice live is sounds even better than it does recorded. She always gets the note and sings it with beauty or fire as required. She's just spot on. No other way to put it. I can't decide anymore whether I like Rabbit Fur Coat (more folk and soul oriented) or Acid Tongue (more Americana better, but the show was mostly songs from the new album. We heard (in approximate order) "Carpetbaggers", a solo acoustic version of Rilo Kiley's "Silver Lining", "You Are What You Love", a new song called "Just Like Zeus" (thought it was okay), "Trying My Best To Love You", "Rise Up With Fists", "Handle With Care" (the Traveling Wilburys song).

They ended there set the same way they did last fall, the epic "The Next Messiah". It's bluesy, groovy goodness is pretty much the perfect song of hers to end with and is the song that first convinced me she was awesome. They came out with a three song encore of "Acid Tongue", "The Big Wave" (another new one. Liked it better), and "Sing a Song For Them" (a song I really didn't care for on the record but sounds a lot better live). Jenny was really nice and cheerful the entire show, and you can tell that she has a lot of fun up there. Jonathan Rice better watch his back, 'cause if I see him on the street I'm taking him out. That way me and Jenny can write our own awesome songs together.