So, Last Night…
P. J. Harvey at the Orpheum Theatre.
so nice.
not at all what i was expecting, but definitely a wonderful evening. it wasn’t a rock concert, it was more of a solo performance. or perhaps a show. it wasn’t acoustic, but it had acoustic moments. it had many moments…
Shelley had seen P. J. before – but i hadn’t. one of those always admired but never seen artists. there are a couple… This time around, though, she was performing more of a collection of selections from past albums, and this show was only one of two in North America. something like that i just couldn’t miss. who knows when she will be back around to this side of the country.
She decided to play 2 shows in North America this year. One was at the Beacon Theatre in New York… the other was Monday night at the Orpheum here in L.A. It was a full house. Music intellectuals, music nerds, goths, punks, and poets. For the most part a quiet polite intent on the music crowd, but a few loud yells and screams throughout the night. I spotted Vincent Gallo a few rows ahead, and Shelley spotted Rob Zombie right next to him. I’m sure other celebrities drifted around, but the star of the show was Polly.
She came alone, with guitars, a piano, a synth, a cymbal, a drum machine, a zither…. she moved and danced between songs and instruments, between albums and styles. Long white dress and a smile and childlike sparkle shining between songs and screams and moans and feedback and distortion and melody. She hit old songs like Rid Of Me with a growl and an energy that shot right through the crowd, and then smoothed everything over with songs from White Chalk, and then moved up to groove with some pieces off of To Bring You My Love. The power and dynamics were still there, even though the songs were stripped down and slightly reset. The childlike energy flowed as she did, between songs, and crashing against feedback and distortion for the more punked out pieces, and then tightly restrained and reigned in for the more classical melancholic drifts across piano touched sections. Back and forth, between sounds and styles and little conversations with the audience in general. She seduced, she smiled, she sang.
Then, a complete turnaround the next night. Shelley and i head back to the same beautiful audience theatre for the Dashboard Confessional show. A little different, but this was more business than pleasure, but it was also pretty interesting in terms of a musical anthropology experiment. We got in, got our passes and laminates and walked around like wayne and garth at an alice cooper concert. no – just kidding. we acted cool, really. Shelley did her business, we said hello to Chris Carrabba and friends, and left to get beers and seats.
As opposed to last nights seats, which were about 15 rows from the stage, this time around we were in the upper balcony, almost at the top. Great view of the Orpheum – amazing theatre. great place to see P. J. Harvey – but for this solo acoustic Dashboard Confessional show, it was pretty surreal. Chris was charming and nice and very happy – bouncing about the stage and letting everyone sing a long. I had seen him before – probably around 2002 in a small club in Seattle, so i kinda knew the drill, but seeing it happen in this venue was a trip. Shelley and I were possibly among the oldest people in attendance, and when everyone sang along to the songs ( a whole bunch coming from The Places You Have Come To Fear The Most ) it was almost overwhelming…. in a sad angstful teenage emotional sorta way. I appreciate the songs and the poetic touches, but i’f i’m gonna sing a long, it’s gonna be alone in the shower or something. Here it was like some sort of sad summer camp kumbayah for little emo kids. Quite a difference from the one person show the previous night. Afterwards, we headed next door to the Broadway Bar for a couple of Martini’s, ’cause we knew it wouldn’t be crowded – and it was very nice. quiet, good music, good drinks… and then we hit Benito’s Tacos in Hollywood for a quick late night grease stop. Home, Bed, Work.
Then in the next two weeks, two more shows… one of them is gonna be Jesus & Mary Chain…. another personally influential band that i have managed to never see. So i’m looking forward to that.
i’m happy when it rains.
mochaLouder 