Two of my favorite bands at one of the best venues in the world (that's probably a little hyperbolic). Weeknight shows at the Bowl are a bit of a pain. I rushed over straight from work and still missed the beginning of the Shins set. They went on at about 7:35PM. They started out pretty shaky. They're not on tour right now and they've never been a great live band even when I've seen them in the middle of tours (I've seen them at Universal Amphitheatre, the Wiltern and some places in Austin). James Mercer seems painfully shy on stage. I saw him do a solo set at the Knitting Factory one night and he seemed much more comfortable in that setting. I'm not sure he opened his mouth once between songs. He lets Marty do all the talking. Marty loves to talk and he loves corny jokes. He made lots of jokes about caviar, fried chicken and thanking "mr. harmonic" for letting them play. They played at least two songs. The lyrics seemed good, but Mercer was off key from time to time. I'm always happy to see them and I'll buy the new record the second it comes out, but it probably wasn't the best venue for them. Naturally the crowd made the most noise for the Garden State songs (good songs, but 95% of their songs are good).
Belle and Sebastian came on stage about 9:00PM. With the huge orchestra behind them, they opened with a solo to set the stage for Stuart Murdoch's entrance. During the week, it never seems like the Bowl is loud enough for me. The band started off with mellow songs that used the LA Philharmonic to varying degrees. At times the vocals and the band were overwhelmed by the orchestra, but at other times it was a nice compliment. I haven't tracked down the setlist yet and I was too drunk on wine to bother (anybody have a link?) but it didn't seem like they chose a lot of my favorite stuff. Murdoch was engaging and personable as always and frequently interacted with the audience. At the begining of the show hardly anybody was moving (like the audience wasn't sure about the venue and the band wasn't sure this was their audience) but as the night progressed the vibe became noticeably better. During "Jonathan David" Murdoch brought a girl on stage to dance. She introduced herself as "baby beeyotch." At one point he asked the audience for a dress or mascara so he could get in the mood. By the encore the aisles were filled with kids dancing and people were rushing the stage (by this time the LA Phil had already left the stage). A friend pointed out that the energy and the crowd interaction reminded her a little of seeing the Smiths back in the day (and I had thought the same thing, but since I never saw the Smiths I was thinking Morrissey). Not the best Belle & Sebastian show I've ever seen, but both bands were clearly in awe of the venue and very appreciative of the audience. Overall a great time and one of those special nights that reminds you why you tolerate all the traffic and smog to live in LA.
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