Rilo Kiley at the Greek
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I'm not very good at these concert reviews so bear with me here...
So, last night I had the pleasure of seeing Rilo Kiley live for the first time. Kinda funny since I saw The Elected live years before seeing Blake Sennet's main band, but whatever. Benji Hughes is the first opener, but they deserve to be a headliner. Or at least the second opener. Basically, they deserve to play to a much bigger audience then the couple dozen early birds (like me) who showed up right at 7:30p. They're kinda bluesy, kinda early-90s rock, kinda late-90s post-grunge, with a slight sheen of alt-country tossed in for the hell of it. Think Bush plus Lucero plus Against Me!, then hammer them all together, shake it up, and out'll come Benji. But in a good way. Their set was great and much too short. I'd give up half of Lavendar Diamond's set for more Benji Hughes.
Speaking of which...sigh...well, at least she's not wearing that damned mirror dress that kept blinding me at The Dresden Dolls show in May. And at least she's osmewhat coherent this go round. Maybe she toked up a few hours before the show rather than immediately before coming on stage. The music is, oddly enough, slightly more mainstream this time; more generically "indie rock". While I like "indie rock" as much as the next Buddy Holly-bespectacled hipster, but when a band noticeably shifts their sound to suit their audience that kinda irks me. OK, so the shift isn't that noticeable so maybe it wasn't a conscious tonal shift. Maybe I just want to be a bitch to this band so I'm looking for things to dislike. I don't know why I don't like Lavendar Diamond, but theyre fairly high on my "List Of Things I Have An Irrational And Baseless Hatred For", right under velour, taupe, and the word "moisture" and just above Prince and people who write on their jeans. I dunno, it just seems like in this venue her attitude comes off as insipid and vacuous whereas with The Dresden Dolls she was a stoned eclectic gypsy/hippie.
Now for the main attraction! The show as a whole was pretty darn good. Definitely not the best show I've ever seen, but nowhere near the worst. Higher than middling but lower than fan-fucking-tastic. Tunage was mostly "Under The Blacklight" and "The Execution Of All Things" with a dash of "More Adventurous" and only one from "Take Offs And Landings". Blake had a bunch of solos, Jenny fell on the floor, Pierre jammed with the bongo player, and Jason just fucking rocked. Bonus points for Jenny not wearing those hideous gold lamé short shorts, but I must also deduct said points for her wearing high-waisted black hotpants with the biggest buttons ever created. The venue? The Los Angeles incarnation of The Greek Theatre was awesome and put Berkeley's Greek on a run for its money.
Is it a sin to blare The Elected post-Rilo Kiley? Hopefully not because that's precisely what I did for the 45 minutes I spent idling in stacked parking and threading my way through Griffith Park in heavy concert traffic at a snail's pace. But I didn't mind. Blake always puts me in a good mood. I'm warning you Winona, if you hurt my boy I'll fucking kill you. It was bad enough you shagged Pete Yorn and now you've got your hooks into Blake. He's worth more than you, missy! Yes, I am crazy, I freely admit it. But hey, it could be worse. I could be crazy for Gavin Rosdale. Or Britney Spears. Or Fall out Boy. Ew. I think I just threw up a little in my mouth.
Comments (10)
I don't have any pictures to post yet but I'll get the film developed tonight (yes, I'm one of the last remaining Americans that doesn't own a digital camera) and hopefully post them tomorrow.
Good review of what sounds like a fairly decent shoe... but then any post that makes me think of Jenny Lewis is hotpants is on to a winner :P
I saw Lavender Diamond open up for the New Pornographers @ the Fonda last year...oh, what a trainwreck...so so bad...she was so drunk, or something...either way it didn't work out so well for them
blair, that's just the way they are. no joke. she's just fucking insane...
tee hee hee! just realized i'm a daily pick! :)
I saw Lavendar Diamond open for someone last year and I was bored to tears. Guess it's official: they suck.
Rilo Kiley, however, doesn't suck. I've seen them a few times and always enjoyed the show. But, Alex....I have to warn you. My daughter, Bella is enamored with Blake after he gave her his guitar pick and held her hand. She may be little but she's plucky and I think she'd toss you for him. :)
i'm scrappy, amber, and i have no qualms about fighting children. if she wants a battle, a battle she'll have! :)
I like Jenny's shorts, but then, I'm a bloke. Sounds like you had a good time and I'm getting to like your writing style. So Gwen's safe from a marauding adultress then?
Saw them perform last October in Jenny's hometown of Las Vegas. What an incredible show! Stumbled across the show in one of those free weekly papers about an hour before it started and a special treat was The Bird and The Bee as an opening act!
:=)
she can keep gavin rosdale. many moons ago i came across a poster of rosdale where he was shirtless and for some reason standing under a waterfall, or maybe it was a shower on full blast, i don't know, something that involved him being very wet with a lot of water. anyways, any crush that may have eventually developed was crushed by his chest hair. or lack thereof. he had about 5 uberthick hairs on his chest. just 5. and really thick. not a bear and not waxed. just 5 thick, thick hairs...