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his voice, if anything, has improved. a couple things that really shocked/impressed me:

 

how attentive & respectful the audience was and how well those songs translate to just vocals & guitar.

 

i said it over on the elephant 6 board too, but i'll repeat here... i was so impressed that he came out for the 2nd encore. i guess i was under the impression that he was a sort of cranky guy who was going to come out, mumble a few things, play, and walk off. instead he seemed really genuinely happy and appreciative. he thanked the audience a million times!

 

what an incredible show! definitely one i'll remember for a long time.

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Pretty good write-up from the Boston Globe's music blog: http://www.boston.com/ae/music/blog/

 

 

JEFF MANGUM

With ACME (American Contemporary Music Ensemble)

At: Sanders Theatre, last night (repeats tonight at Jordan Hall)

By Marc Hirsh

Globe Correspondent

CAMBRIDGE -- Operating under the moniker Neutral Milk Hotel, Jeff Mangum recorded two albums – one of which, “In the Aeroplane Over the Sea,” rapidly revealed itself as one of the best of its era and well beyond – and then vanished for a dozen years.

 

As a result, all Mangum has to do to wring fervent applause out of his devoted cult following is walk on stage. That’s precisely what happened last night at Sanders Theatre, where a sold-out crowd that included fellow musical explorer Amanda Palmer gave Mangum a hero’s welcome just for showing up.

But despite a set list limited to those two albums and a cover of Roky Erickson’s simple and sweet “I Love the Living You,” Mangum (who plays another sold-out performance tonight at Jordan Hall) wasn’t simply coasting on his legend. That was clear from the start, when he grabbed a guitar and played “Oh Comely” with a dark and deliberate intensity that made it seem like his disappearing act never happened.

Mangum kept that intensity up, staring with laser focus at the back wall as he sang in his declamatory, full-throated yelp. But he softened enough to flash brief, earnest smiles with every round of applause, and when his microphone failed during “A Baby for Pree,” he casually stepped out of his chair and kneeled at the lip of the stage, all while continuing the song without amplification.

Since “Aeroplane” is, at its core, just a man with an acoustic guitar, the material didn’t require much simplification for a solo concert. Even so, he occasionally encouraged the audience to sing along, turning “The King of Carrot Flowers” and “Holland, 1945” into cracked hootenannies.

After quietly ending “Engine,” Mangum left with a gracious “Thank you, good night.” The house lights came up, the doors opened... and after a five-minute standing ovation, Mangum returned for a concert rarity: a genuine, unplanned encore. Off-mike once more, he launched into the frantic strumming of “Two-Headed Boy” as the audience sang softly along until the aching slowdown at the end. That was left to Mangum alone.

 

String quartet American Contemporary Music Ensemble (ACME) opened. Three Erik Satie pieces set the tone, with “Gymnopédies” providing a slow, delicate rise and fall, and Gavin Bryars’s “Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet” was stunning, using heavy repetition to transform a street person’s a cappella song into mournful but transcendent ecstasy.

Marc Hirsh can be reached at officialmarc@gmail.com.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Going to ny to see him. Read a lot of posts earlier people were dissapointed wilco sold 88,000 units. I read somewhere Aeroplane over the sea sold 35,000. That is a desert island disc, one I wouldn't be stranded without. Music is truly intuitive, and jeff had the ability. Can't wait until NY show. Tried three others, shut out.

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  • 1 year later...

via Paste Magazine

 

Neutral Milk Hotel's Jeff Mangum Announces Massive U.S. Tour

 

 

 

Published at 2:05 PM on November 12, 2012

 

By Shaina Pearlman

 

 

 

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Andy Dwyer better be careful, Neutral Milk Hotel’s Jeff Mangum has announced a solo U.S. acoustic tour and one of the stops is close to fictional Pawnee, Ind.

The Neutral Milk Hotel’s website released a statement on its site earlier today, saying: “hello friends in a flock of finches unfolding from the face of a foam horse on the phone toinform you that jeff is heading out for one last u.s. acoustic tour, giving him the chance to play to all the silver citizens dwelling in citys that he has yet to sing in.”

Mangum will make 31 stops across the country beginning Jan. 9 in Buffalo, N.Y. and concluding with a visit to North Adams, Mass. on Feb. 16.

Check out the complete tour dates below. Most tickets go on sale Nov. 15, click here for complete details.

January

9 – Buffalo, N.Y. @ Asbury Hall

10 – Pittsburgh, Pa. @ Carnegie Music Hall

11 – Cleveland, Ohio @ Ohio City Masonic Temple

12 – Detroit, Mich. @ Redford Theatre

14 – Columbus, Ohio @ Southern Theatre

15 – Bloomington, Ind. @ Buskirk-Chumley

16 – St. Louis, Mo. @ Sheldon Concert Hall

18 – Lawrence, Kan. @ Liberty Hall

19 – Oklahoma City, Okla. @ ACM, UCO – Performance Lab

20 – Dallas, Texas @ Majestic Theater

21 – Houston, Texas @ Cullen Theater, The Wortham Center

23 – New Orleans, La. @ One Eyed Jacks

24 – Tallahassee, Fla. @ The Moon

25 – Gainesville, Fla. @ Florida Theater

26 – Orlando, Fla. @ The Beacham

28 – Augusta, Ga. @ Sky City

29 – Charleston, S.C. @ Charleston Music Hall

30 – Wilmington, N.C. @ Brooklyn Arts Center, St. Andrews

31 – Charlotte, N.C. @ Neighborhood Theatre

February

1 – Knoxville, Tenn. @ Bijou Theatre

2 – Asheville, N.C. @ The Grey Eagle

4 – Charlottesville, Va. @ Jefferson Theater

5 – Wilmington, Del. @ Dupont Theatre

6 – York, Pa. @ Strand-Capitol Performing Arts Center

8 – Hartford, Conn. @ The Great Hall in Union Station

9 – Portland, Maine @ State Theater

10 – Providence, R.I. @ Lupos Heartbreak Hotel

13 – Ithaca, N.Y. @ State Theatre

14 – Clinton, N.Y. @ Hamilton College Chapel

15 – Poughkeepsie, N.Y. @ Barvadon Opera House

16 – North Adams, Mass. @ MASS MoCA

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