Last night we hiked out to one of our favorite clubs, Hideout, to take in the super sold-out Jon Brion show. The celebrity-festooned event (read: we think we saw the dude that played Darlene's husband on "Roseanne" there) packed the Hideout music room to the beams and rafters with an eagerly expectant crowd.
Brion is famous for a variety of reasons (producer to the stars, composer of avant-pop movie soundtracks, mind-boggling grasp of musical history and mimicry), but the crowd was there last night in hopes of seeing an approximation of his famous long-running residency at the Largo Club. Brion takes requests from the crowd, builds songs piece by piece (literally) and leaves the room stunned.
At Hideout he did all of this. It's always stunning to see a man sit down and loop a drum segment, then add piano, and bass, and organ, and whatever else he can fit into the bursting sonic cauldron before finally laying live guitar and vocals over the top of it all. Even something as simple as a request for the old surf tune "Pipeline" expanded into a jaw-dropping display of virtuosity as Brion constructed the whole tune, piece by piece on a single instrument.
It was mind boggling, actually.
The only thing that tugged at the edge our our sleeve and kept us from getting lost in the music was this thought: Brion is certainly insanely talented, and his live show is transfixing, but the base of the mesmerizing act isn't an emotional one. Instead the crowd is wowed by the mad genius of this esteemed craftsman, and while we all experienced a truly memorable experience, it's questionable whether it was a moving one as well.
On the flip side was the Fu Manchu show at Double Door we ran to after Jon Brion's performance. In a case of sonic whiplash we were wrenched from the vaunted tower of a master craftsman and thrown into a cage full of rabid apes. The funny thing is, we think we had a better time pumping our fists in the air in return to monosyllabic phrases and thunderously simple guitar riffs. Brion was meant to be respected and appreciated and to be viewed through glasses of awe; Fu Manchu was meant as an all-night soundtrack to drinking and fucking and smoking. One was a once-in-a-lifetime event; the other was a truly life-affirming event.
We're glad we got to experience both in the same night.
Jon Brion photo by Jennifer Brandel
Fu Manchu photo by Mike Sage
add to digg
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
email this
add to facebook
add to del.icio.us
we think we saw the dude that played Darlene's husband on Roseanne there
could be, he lives in river forest. i used to see him at whole foods all the time when i lived out that way.
Jon tried to make love- Fu Manchu likes to fuck...
I'm telling you, TB, it WAS him. I know my sitcom stars from the 80s and 90s. Scott said so, too.
And we're always, always right.
The Jon Brion show was presented by Intonation, right? Any word on the other Chicago fest? Is it even happening this year?
yeah david from roseanne is a cool guy and can often be seen around town. i know him to be a blackhawks fan and a smoker of long-ass cigarettes.
...and while we all experienced a truly memorable experience, it's questionable whether it was a moving one as well.
I wasn't at the Hideout show, but I was at the Steppenwolf show. And I'd have to say that his covers of "Waterloo Sunset" and Elliott Smith's "Happiness" were absolutely beautiful and absolutely moving.
Seeing a man so genuinely, sublimely happy to be doing what he was so clearly put on this earth to do is nothing if not moving.
That show was phenomenal on every level. It's too bad a ticket was wasted on someone who couldn't appreciate that.
Whoa, wait a minute. I absolutely enjoyed the Jon Brion show, so no ticket was wasted. I'm just trying to point out that we saw two very different bands that were entertaining on two very different levels last night. And bringing up a critical query or two should not be misinterpreted as a diss ... especially when every sentence preceding that question is laudatory and shining in the praise being heaped upon Jon Brion.