Quarta-feira 28 Nov 2007, 11h:26
Tue 27 Nov – Jens Lekman, magic arm, Neil Burrell
I hadn't yet got my claws on a copy of Night Falls Over Kortedala so some of last night's material was new to me, but it was almost more exciting for that. Jens opened with a meandering tale of leaving home, first kisses and helping his lesbian friend Nina in Berlin, this was all tied together with familiar samples and two chords, it was almost musical stand-up, but sweet and awkward, and in the setting of a church in Salford everything was set for an outstanding night.
Like Jens said, he didn't yet really know how to use his loop pedal, but his minimal use of it made it unobtrusive and seamless, unlike Magic arm whose skilfully built up textures sometimes seem a bit obvious, the necessity of slow build-up giving every song a familiar structure, though his musical material is often fun and always well executed. We were treated to most of 'Night Falls' as well as select gems from the back catalogue - A Sweet Summer's Night on Hammer Hill lacked it's trumpets (as did Friday Night at the Drive-in Bingo) but came off nonetheless with help from jumpy spanish guitar and Tammy Karlsen's bongo playing; Pocketful of Money was at last accompanied by a more enthusiastic audience, clicking their fingers, whistling the backing samples and rumbling the low backing vocals to recreate the original. Black Cab and You Are the Light were both treated to a pared-down treatment and were just as amazing as the originals without orchestral backing, Jens's "beautiful voice" (as he put it) can just carry it off on its own.
Neil Burrell's high, folky voice and guitar playing showed promise with some haunting melodies and catchy riffs, but suffered from words mumbled incomprehensibly and a stage presence that never quite got the early crowd going. Magic Arm is clearly much more experienced and weilds his harmonica, guitar, xylophone, synth and loop pedals to great effect. This was my second chance to see him (he seems to be playing quite a few support slots at Hey!Manchester gigs) and I enjoyed him more second time around, getting the chance to get past the obvious gimeckiness of the loop structure. His songs work best when punctuated by cut-down sections, right back to voice and guitar, emphasising his more orchestral moments very effectively.
Post gig, Jens and Tammy proved to be as endearing as their music suggests happy to while away time chatting to fans and signing copies of the new album. They were so friendly I was tempted to head over to Leeds to try and get in tonight, but decided student budgets don't stretch like you'd like them too.
Got home last night and put on 'Night Falls' and it reminded me of leaving home, just like it should.