I can't believe I am two weeks behind on sharing this, but HOLY CRAP JENS LEKMAN! That is to say: I saw him live a couple Fridays ago at Music Hall of Williamsburg and it was just as dreamy and wonderful as I thought it would be.
Before I continue to pour out fangirl emotion though, I have a serious confession to make: I almost FORGOT about the show! Let me repeat that: I had a ticket for a sold-out JENS LEKMAN show and I almost FORGOT TO GO. I am so ashamed. And also worried that something is eating holes in my brain. To be a teensy bit fair to myself, I purchased the ticket way back in August but never put on any sort of calendar - I just trusted I'd remember such an important date. I had to work until 8:15 that day so I had a subconscious plan to dress hip enough for work so I could just jet to the show afterward. Well... nope. Totally forgot. It wasn't until I was on my last 15 minute break at work, around 7pm, that I was reading show listings on Oh My Rockness and saw Jens Lekman listed and then felt cold dread and panic wash over me. I convinced a manager to let me leave a little early, rushed home to change, then jumped in cab to the 'burg. I got there with just enough time to catch the last two songs of opener Geoffrey O'Connor (kinda weird) and down a whiskey (hallelujah). That can never, ever, EVER happen again.
BUT anyway: awesome show. As much as it's always more fun to go to shows with other people, the advantage to going by myself is that I can very easily nudge my way to the front. I didn't make it right up to the stage but I got about fifteen feet away, which was luckily within range when Jens threw confetti during "Opposite of Hallelujah" - yes, CONFETTI! In addition to that crowd-pleaser, he also played a bunch more of my faves, including "The End of the World is Bigger Than Love," "Maple Leaves," "A Sweet Summer's Night on Hammer Hill" (which he ended by leaning the microphone against his heart - awww the adorableness) and his new single "An Argument With Myself."
The best part was most definitely the beautifully acoustic final encore where he played the mournful-but-sweet "Black Cab" and organized a sing-along for "Pocketful of Money." That last bit was a great way to go out - I confess that "Pocketful of Money" has never been up there in my list of Jens favorites, but when he got the balcony and the floor levels to sing the overlapping parts ("You set my heart on fire"/"I'll come running with a heart on a fire") it transformed it into something more... magical.
Good god, I need to stop writing blog posts at 2:30 in the morning. You get the idea. Come back soon, Jens.
(PS: In my haze of post-paranoia and pure happiness, I completely forgot to snap some photos with my phone. I always feel kinda weird doing that anyway. So all of these are from Brooklyn Vegan - be a doll and read their whole article here.)
1 comment:
Post a Comment