Jens Lekman loves his women. This is apparent from all the songs he dedicates to his past lovers and friends, possibly real and imagined -- there's Shirin, the lovely hair stylist that runs a salon in her apartment; Nina, his lesbian friend who lies to her father about being engaged to Jens; and Julie, the girl I imagine Jens once loved back home in a Gothenburg suburb. And as if he couldn't express his love for women enough, he tours with an almost all-female band. The bassist, accordionist, drummer, and two violinists -- all women, except a male D.J.
The opening band for the show was
Throw Me The Statue, a synth-heavy Seattle band recently signed to Secretly Canadian. They play fun, catchy indie pop, the kind full of sunny hand claps and pop melodies, but I enjoyed them only intermittently. The band played well, with energy and bombast, but I found singer Scott Reitherman's voice a little underwhelming. Compared to all the band's wacky synths and rhythms, his vocals lacked the same personality and range.
Jens Lekman, however, was a complete musician and performer. With each song, Lekman shared a short back story, all with his distinct, understated wit. The night at the Troubadour was part-music act, part-stand-up comedy routine. His baritone voice sounded just like his recordings, and his band reproduced accurately all the samples and instrumentations of his latest album,
Night Falls Over Kortedala. On stage, Lekman is as witty and funny as he is on his songs.
The set list mostly included tracks from
Kortedala (including the singles "The Opposite of Hallelujah," "Sipping On The Sweet Nectar," and, of course, "Friday Night at the Drive-In Bingo"). I was disappointed that he didn't play the R&B-sampling "Kanske Är Jag Kär I Dig," but he made up for it with an encore cover of Paul Simon and Chevy Chase's "You Can Call Me Al." And all without any snarky irony.
Remaining tour dates:
| 11/13/07 Dallas, TX - Granada Theater solo w/ Sarah Jaffe |
| 11/14/07 Austin, TX - The Parish solo |
| 11/15/07 Tallahassee, FL - Club Downunder solo |
| 11/16/07 Atlanta, GA - Drunken Unicorn solo |
| 11/27/07 Manchester, UK - Sacred Trinity Church |
| 11/28/07 Leeds, UK - Holy Trinity Church |
| 11/29/07 Sheffield, UK - The Plug w/ Josh Rouse |
| 11/30/07 Manchester, UK - Academy 2 w/ Josh Rouse |
| 12/01/07 Glasgow, UK - QMU w/ Josh Rouse |
| 12/03/07 Gateshead, UK - The Sage 2 w/ Josh Rouse |
| 12/04/07 Nottingham, UK - Rescue Rooms w/ Josh Rouse |
| 12/05/07 Bristol, UK - Academy w/ Josh Rouse |
| 12/07/07 Oxford, UK - Academy w/ Josh Rouse |
| 12/08/07 Brighton, UK - Concorde 2 w/ Josh Rouse |
| 12/09/07 London, UK - Shepherds Bush Empire w/ Josh Rouse |
| 12/11/07 London, UK - The Luminaire |
Jens Lekman loves his women. This is apparent from all the songs he dedicates to his past lovers and friends, possibly real and imagined -- there's Shirin, the lovely hair stylist that runs a salon in her apartment; Nina, his lesbian friend who lies to her father about being engaged to Jens; and Julie, the girl I imagine Jens once loved back home in a Gothenburg suburb. And as if he couldn't express his love for women enough, he tours with an almost all-female band. The bassist, accordionist, drummer, and two violinists -- all women, except a male D.J.
2 comments:
You forgot to mention who he loves most: Janelle Flores.
Finally a new post! It was a fun read, as always.
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