Jump to content

Jon Brion and Friends - NYE


Recommended Posts

Anyone go see Jon Brion and friends at the Harris Theater in Chicago last night? I heard at least two members of Wilco joined him (not sure who)....any reports?! I'm sure it was one of the better options around for bringing in the new year.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Others more qualified will chime in, I'm sure, but I was there and had a very good time despite some of the very, very drunk people near us in the audience. John and Pat played with Jon on a few songs (as well as doing a few Autumn Defense numbers to open), and Britt Daniel also showed up early to play a few before he had to leave and play his own show. My favorite part of the night was probably Jon's take on Springsteen. :D

 

2156050683_baf4caa990.jpg

Link to post
Share on other sites
Others more qualified will chime in, I'm sure, but I was there and had a very good time despite some of the very, very drunk people near us in the audience. John and Pat played with Jon on a few songs (as well as doing a few Autumn Defense numbers to open), and Britt Daniel also showed up early to play a few before he had to leave and play his own show. My favorite part of the night was probably Jon's take on Springsteen. :D

 

2156050683_baf4caa990.jpg

 

Awesome photo, B! You didn't mention the Jon/John/Pat/Howie (the crowd member/drummer) take on "Sentimental Lady," which I know made at least one person swoon...

 

Britt did "Everything Hits At Once" and "The Underdog" on acoustic guitar with Jon on piano and Chamberlin before John, Pat and Howie joined them for the Beatles' "I Feel Fine." And the Autumn Defense set included "The Sun In California," "Bluebirds Fall" and "Spend Your Life" and concluded with the aforementioned "Sentimental Lady."

 

And Jon's closing salvo of "Cortez The Killer," the Springsteen homage with amazingly improvised lyrics and "God Only Knows" was pretty darn spectacular as well. (I think Robyn Hitchcock's Queen Elvis" was also somewhere in that closing flurry, as well, but someone else can provide the exact order this time. ;))

Link to post
Share on other sites

Overall I thought it was a very fun night. Frustrations with drunken fans aside (and, of course those should've been expected at a NYE show) Jon put on a spirited performance that had the crowd going all night (a crowd that, I'm sure, was comprised of only maybe 20-25% max who knew anything about him). He made up a Springsteen-style song on the spot with John and Pat and a crowd-member on drums and it was absolutely spectacular. I bet Bruce himself would've been flattered and impressed.

 

I should also note that he's playing again at Martyr's Wednesday night at 10pm. Tickets are sold out online, but the site does note that a very small portion will be held for tomorrow night at the door.

 

Some links:

 

Lively discussion of the show at SOMB:

http://soundopinions.org/forum/index.php?s...mp;#entry542035

 

And Fairfax-Ave:

http://www.fairfax-avenue.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=471

 

Lots of photos from the show:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/yenna/sets/72157603608757783/

 

Some video I took:

Spoon's "The Underdog" (w/Britt):

Beatles' "I Feel Fine" (w/John, Pat, Britt, Howie):

 

And the setlist (naturally from jonbriontendinitisreport) at

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseacti...logID=343272788

Link to post
Share on other sites
You didn't mention the Jon/John/Pat/Howie (the crowd member/drummer) take on "Sentimental Lady," which I know made at least one person swoon...

 

Oh, dearest, if that was a shoutout in my direction, thank you ever so kindly. Heehee.

 

(I suppose there are songs I dislike more than Sentimental Lady, but when it's playing, I can't think of a one of 'em).

 

zspaul, besides its being great to see you, thanks so much for the soundopinions link. I particularly liked the reality-check folks on p. 6 -- yeah, the singalongs were drunken, and there were lots of fools in the room, and it wasn't Largo, but it was a freakin' fantastic way to bring in the new year. I firmly believe that the best way to sing Auld Lang Syne is accompanied by Jon Brion on multiple keyboards, preceeded by his friendly and enthusiastic exhortation: "Sing, you fuckers!!"

 

And we fuckers did sing.

 

From the second row, the annoying fools were mostly just comic relief and fodder for strenuous eye-rolling. To watch a musical genius create a song on the spot that not only used springsteen's typical motifs, but made it funny, and rhyme, and scan perfectly...that's worth the price of admission right there even if you didn't get to stand up and operatically bellow out the few lines of Bohemian Rhapsody that you remember from high school. Which I did.

 

Honestly, it feel like it's going to be a great year. Starting with last night and continuing with Martyrs. Yeah baby.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Well put, Hodie. And it was nice seeing you and others that night as well. To me, this kinda feels like just two long days with Brion shows each night, like yesterday wasn't really a "day" if that makes any sense at all. See you tonight!

Link to post
Share on other sites
What did y'all think of the show last night?

 

It beat the New Year's show by a factor of 253 million. Approximately. And I LIKED the New Year's show.

 

I'm back home and still spent from the show in the very best possible way. Who needs Here We Go when you've got the rockingest Lennon medley of all time?

 

Many thanks to my concert-going friends, both Chicago-based and otherwise. You all sure do know how to share a good time.

 

Edit: my face is about to break from my grinning at this youtube:

Link to post
Share on other sites
Oh, mobile recording truck, please be so kind as to bestow your gifts upon us all sooner rather than later.

 

 

few times do i ever se a youtube that floors me. that's one of 'em. i guess he only breaks one string but the way it keeps catching the light it seems like they're flying off the guitar like the hubcaps in bullit.

Link to post
Share on other sites
I firmly believe that the best way to sing Auld Lang Syne is accompanied by Jon Brion on multiple keyboards, preceeded by his friendly and enthusiastic exhortation: "Sing, you fuckers!!"

:rotfl

were you holding your beer steins aloft and swaying with the song? i hope so. :cheers

Link to post
Share on other sites
I back her up 1 million percent on this.

 

And I back his back up one jillion percent further.

 

But I'm glad the awesomeness is coming through on the video, too, though!

 

were you holding your beer steins aloft and swaying with the song? i hope so.

 

Sub in "goofy little plastic glasses of champagne", add in a number of questioning looks at each other regarding the lyrics, and you're on.

Link to post
Share on other sites
And we fuckers did sing.

Wow, thank you so much. Jon Brion freakin' rules the universe. Not to put too fine a fangirl point on it or anything. But wow.

 

(I'd completely forgotten that he did the backup vocals for the Cheers song, and wouldn't it have been grand if the youtube poster had gotten the Sugar Plum Fairies segment of that medley, too?)

Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...