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earlgreytea68Last night I went to see Jens Lekman. It seemed like I had just seen Jens Lekman, but I now recall that it was the Monday after the Red Sox won the World Series. And here we are now in the first week of a new season. It's so full-circle!
The set seemed less heavy on his new stuff than the first show was, although he once again passed over "I Remember Every Kiss." He did, however, play "The Opposite of Hallelujah." Plus, Jens is so charming that he tells the stories behind his songs and makes every one of them seem fabulous. Like his explanation of "A Postcard to Nina," which was apparently the result of his friend Nina telling him that she'd told his parents they were engaged as they were waiting for her parents to open the door for them. And I've decided that I love "Your Arms Around Me," even though I never listen to it. He also sang this song "New Directions" that isn't on any of his albums, but that I thought was just adorable. That version I'm linked to seems to muffle the words, which were mostly Google Map directions, like, "Turn left at the roundabout, then .3 miles and a gradual right."
As for his older stuff, he never plays "A Man Walks into a Bar," which saddens me as I love it so passionately. And this time he didn't play "Cold Swedish Winter," which I thought was just mesmerizing live. But he did play "Higher Power," which is notable for containing my favorite rhyming couplet of all time: "In church on Sunday making out in front of the preacher / You had a black shirt on with a big picture of Nietzsche." He wins many points from coming up with a plausible reason to end a rhyme with "Nietzsche." "Higher Power" live, though, was disappointing compared with the album version. Those strings must be ridiculously hard to play, because the violinist he had with him last night was excellent, but couldn't approximate the way the strings sound on the actual song. (In fact, in the live version I linked to, they don't even try to approximate the frantic strings that the song opens with. It makes the song more reflective-sounding, but less urgent.)
Anyway, it was another excellent concert and he was clearly having fun. When he came on to do the requisite encore, he ended up playing five more songs, just him and his guitar, and he called upon us to do the percussion part, or whistle the saxophone bit, or sing his backing vocals.
And then I came home and played Wii! So all around a lovely night!
As for his older stuff, he never plays "A Man Walks into a Bar," which saddens me as I love it so passionately. And this time he didn't play "Cold Swedish Winter," which I thought was just mesmerizing live. But he did play "Higher Power," which is notable for containing my favorite rhyming couplet of all time: "In church on Sunday making out in front of the preacher / You had a black shirt on with a big picture of Nietzsche." He wins many points from coming up with a plausible reason to end a rhyme with "Nietzsche." "Higher Power" live, though, was disappointing compared with the album version. Those strings must be ridiculously hard to play, because the violinist he had with him last night was excellent, but couldn't approximate the way the strings sound on the actual song. (In fact, in the live version I linked to, they don't even try to approximate the frantic strings that the song opens with. It makes the song more reflective-sounding, but less urgent.)
Anyway, it was another excellent concert and he was clearly having fun. When he came on to do the requisite encore, he ended up playing five more songs, just him and his guitar, and he called upon us to do the percussion part, or whistle the saxophone bit, or sing his backing vocals.
And then I came home and played Wii! So all around a lovely night!
