Lincoln Hall's Nilsson, Feist Documentary Screenings Honor Former Three Penny Glory

By Michele Lenni in Arts & Entertainment on Oct 22, 2010 7:20PM

Some of us here at Chicagoist (ahem, this Chicagoista) are old enough to remember the days before Lincoln Hall had concerts and music events back to when that space was host to those moving picture thingies called movies. We welcome the return of the original use of the space this Monday night when Lincoln Hall and CHIRPradio present, "The Three Penny Was Here," featuring two music documentaries — Look What the Light Did Now and Who Is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talking About Him)?

Just as we finally stopped humming that damn 1,2,3,4 song from the Ipod Nano commercial that has been ingrained in our brains, the Canadian singer-songwriter Leslie Feist, more affectionately known by her surname, returns to our consciousness with a film documenting her Grammy nominated 2007 album The Reminder. The film journeys deep into the the inspiration behind the woman, her poetic creative process and her many collaborators, known better to Feist as her amplifiers. Look What the Light Did Now was directed by famed music video director Anthony Seck and features candid interviews with Feist, the photographer who helped her hide within the frame, shadow puppeteers in hockey arenas, an artist who built a thread-radiating mural, the video director who conducted fireworks, her extended musical family, and many rare and exuberant live performances in her native Canada and here in the United States.

Though we know many dismiss Feist as a twee-pop songstress and a commercially driven sell-out, we here at Chicagoist know different. We've always thought of Feist as more of a Carol King type, relying on the purity and earthy quality of her raw songwriting talent, not to mention her many collaborators that have been her muse along the way.

Closing the evening is a rare glimpse into the life and times of another singer-songwriter, Harry Nilsson. Probably best known for a two little ditties, Put the Lime in the Coconut, and Everybody's Talkin', Nisson was a driving inspiration in the '60s and '70s with breaking ground with amazing folky, singer-song writer albums like Sandman and Nilsson Schmilsson as well as scoring animated films that we love dearly like '70s psychadelic romp about the only boy with a round head in a town of pointed-heads called The Point. This new documentary includes new and archive audio and film including interviews with his famous friends like Robin Williams, Yoko Ono, Van Dyke Parks, Randy Newman, Ray Cooper, the Smothers Brothers, and Micky Dolenz.

We know it's tough tough to get out on a Monday night, but we feel that it'll be worth the trip.

The Three Penny Was Here, Monday, October 25, 2424 N. Lincoln Ave, 8 p.m., FREE, 18+