vulture.
Youngest member of the trio Jack Lewis, who was noticeably
more talkative and entertaining than on previous occasions,
got up and turned the place into an impromptu open mic
night. Rick, Martin & Anna utilised the unexpected
chance to shine and each sang acoustic based songs. Jeff
Lewis formed part of the audience and remained captivated
throughout. He was so impressed with the revamped supports
that he invited one of them; Anna to stay on stage and
sing backing vocals on the opening track ‘Sad Math’,
a neat Moldy Peaches2000 style track that saw Jack and
Jack spouting free verse poetry early on. This had most
of the audience smiling and inevitably thinking “I
remember what a Jeff Lewis gig is like now”.
Jack’s singing talents that are
more powerful and slightly more soulful than his elder brother’s,
were utilised early on in the track that epitomised the two
of them; “Something Good Inside”. Legendary band ‘The
Fall’ received the ultimate of accolades; a Jeffrey
Lewis A3 flip pad documentary featuring drawings pictures
and a song. Jeff took us page by page through Mark E Smith’s
eccentric and colourful rise to be front man of one of the
music industries most original bands. Will Oldham was also
the subject of this honour later on in the set as the amused
crowd learned of a near sighting of Will by Jeff in New York.
The latter display saw Jeff questioning his own plight and
the worthiness of becoming an indie rock star or legend.
The majority of the crowd, for the first
half of the show at least, were sat down with their legs
crossed like eager nursery school children at story time,
as they were mesmerised by Lewis’ poignancy and passionate
style. However, everyone shot up as though someone had set
fire to the floor, as Jack Lewis played the Rock N Roll game
of crowd teasing leading up to the highlight track from the
album ‘It’s The Ones Who Have Cracked That The
Light Shines Through’;
“Jeff…. I am surrounded by
eight of the things. What sort of chance to I have”.
Elder brother produced a wry smile and
started preparing to play ‘If You Shoot The Head You
Kill The Ghoul’, a neo punk rock crasher, as you got
the feeling Jeff had just been subject to some brotherly
persuasion. This was appreciated by the crowd who frantically
danced around the venue. This was appreciated by the crowd
who frantically danced around the venue and was the start
of some real Friday night letting loose, to some of the more
robust tracks on the above mentioned album like ‘Man
With The Golden Arm’. Jeff became jealous of the good
time dancing going in the crowd, he decided to join them.
The just over an hour long set culminated with the classic
celebration of positive thinking ‘Champion Jim’,
a flip board cartoon about a guy who keeps going through
no end of diversity. A mellow end to another awesome evening
that demonstrated there is an alternative for music lovers
out there.
David Adair |
