Well, it's rather late in it's coming, but my write-up to one of the best gigs of the year is here. Mi mate wrote it, so:I will merely add a setlist and say: "Wot e' said". Feckin' loved it. Jenny, I'll have your babies!
Setlist - Rilo Kiley - Live At The Manchester Academy # 2 - 25th November 2007
1. Close Call
2. It's A Hit
3. Breakin' Up
4. Dreamworld
5. Moneymaker
6. The Execution Of All Things
7. Ripchord
8. Under The Blacklight
9. Silver Lining
10. I Never
11. Give A Little Love
12. Pictures Of Success
13. Smoke Detector
14. 15
16. Does He Love You?
17. I Love L.A.
18. Portions For Foxes
Easily the highlight for me was Jenny Lewis' stunning rendition of 'Under The Blacklight.' I haven't heard a voice so pure, so free, so perfect in a very very very long time. She possesses incredible talent and displays that talent with a fair share of sweet sincerity in her delivery and a humbleness that is at odds with her assured talents on stage. I must add also, lest this become yet another 'I love Jenny Lewis' blog, that Blake Sennett, Pierre de Reeder and Jason Boesel on lead guitar, bass and percussion respectively are three genia without whom I suspect Jenny would be emotionally rather lost. You can see in their live work as well as on their studio albums/eps/etc's, the respect, the fondess and the love each has for the others. They were really well complemented by their stellar support bands, Grand Ole Party and Orenda Fink who joined Rilo Kiley throughout an amazing 18 song set, providing vocal harmonies, trumpets saxphones and god only knows what else, turning an already fulfilling Rilo Kiley live experience into a veritable cornucopia of Rilo Kileyastenics.I have a friend, Martin (who will probably never read this on the grounds of always wishing to avoid technology, electricity, fire and so on), whom I was oh so kindly driving home from work in Manchester last week (we live in Bolton - send money and culture urgently please) and anyway, he was berating the sheer number of American and Canadian bands currently inhabiting the British indie-scene (yes, I know 'indie' - generic word but I'll be fucked if I can think of a better word to describe the scene), and he was claiming (I think!) that these cross-Atlantic cousins of ours were effectively blocking British talent from coming through, in much the same way all them foreign footie players block all the young English players from failing upwards at winning for England. Well, I disagree. I say to the USA and to Canada and to Brazil for that matter for Cansei de Ser Sexy alone, THANK YOU - OH GOD THANK YOU!!! There really would be bugger all to listen to without Americana-indie washing up on our cold and barren musical coast at the moment. Bands like Rilo Kiley, Tilly & The Wall, The Yeah Yeah Yeah's, The Shins, The Polyphonic Spree, The White Stripes, the marvellous Emily Haines and of course her band, Metric, Thee Silver Mount Zion and so on etc. writ large are really helping keep the scene alive right now (oh I forgot The Dears, and by Christ, The Arcade Fire!). While British indie sleeps, the great Americo-Indie lion can roar. And I like the sound of that cat's whiskers...
Once again, we love you Jenny Lewis, your heart and soul is a joy to hear on the stage. Blake, Pierre and Jason (thank you for the partial drumskin once again!), you're the best damned thing to happen to my ears in quite some time.
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