Keren Ann rocks Joe’s Pub – Night Two!

Keren Ann rocks Joe's Pub - Night Two!

findlay brown at joe's pub

much belated music date: findlay brown at joe's pub. shar discovered the crooning of said lad from across the shore back in the spring when i heard his wfuv set. there was the gig he played opening for au revoir simone back in april. then he played a cmj showcase in october. all missed opportunities, but the wait was worth it. the intimate setting of joe's pub was perfect for my first live performance.

mel's first reaction even before the first strum of his guitar. "i like his shoes." i would have to agree. findlay barreled into his single "love will find you" to start off the set. he inquired if anyone had seen his performance on letterman last night. i did. he said it wasn't so hot, but i thought it was fine. he then followed it up with "holding back the night" and "i still want you". next up was my fav, "nobody cared", which he said was based on his sister getting bullied when she was little.

i was able to capture this next tune, "everybody needs love". sorry ran out of memory to get the whole thing.


annnnd here is the set list in it's entirety.

love will find you
holding back the night
i still want you
nobody cared
everybody needs love
come home
teardrops lost in the rain
that's right
sweet dreams (eurythmics cover)
i will (on request and not on the original setlist)
i had a dream

he ran out with an impromptu encore, coming to the edge of the stage with acoustic guitar in hand. i couldn't make out the tune.

findlay encompassed all the roy orbison swagger for me. mel and jac said he reminded them of richard hawley. regardless of who findlay reminds us of, we all were in agreement that it was he was a delight.

laura marling @ joe's pub

somewhat of a disappointment
: laura marling at joe's pub. she did not show up for mike and eric. saki and julie, it was okay you missed this one. i was hoping the change of venue would make last night's show better than the previous gig i saw at bowery. she AGAIN played a short set under an hour.

however, laura does know how to charm a crowd with a self-introduction of "hi i'm laura and i'm going to play some songs for you." she interweaved oldies with new tunes from her forthcoming second album. she did address the fact that it's a bit ugh when you have to sit through new tunes you aren't familiar with, expecting to hear the stuff you know. laura, you are very thoughtful. from her first album, she played "ghosts," "blackberry stone," and "my manic and i". of the new tunes i could decipher, she did play "no hope in the air" and "rambling man". i really liked that later. the encore was her explaining how it's weird to retire behind a curtain five feet from the stage. she remained on stage and plucked through two more tunes. she didn't play my fav "alas i cannot swim". :(

i do think laura is a great artist with thoughtful, original lyrics set against gentle acoustic chords. the video below produced by mtv (didn't know she was on their radar) illustrates the pure simplistic goodness of ms. marling. just wish she would play longer sets. sigh!

el perro del mar w/ lykke li @ joe's pub

best swedish girl power representation: el perro del mar, lykke li and anna ternheim at joe's pub. it was the second stop of the tour and the first show in new york. girl power was in force and from anna's intel there have not been any cat fights yet. anna started off with a guitar, piano and an ipod (her band). lykke li tried to get the crowd dancing, but the joe's pub is a largely sit down cabaret affair. el perro del mar was more lively than i was expecting since the new album is more sleepy. she managed to keep me up with lots of tunes from her self-titled first album.

best dressed dancer: lykke li. the girl can dress. she sported high waisted black wide legged pants with $600 wedges. the value was confimed by mel, who is the shoe admirer. lykke paired the pants and wedges with a wide neck boxy tee. can you tell i'm not a fashionista? she had a slew of gold chains with big arse charms, on of which was a peace sign. I found a pic of it from SXSW.the pants and shirt served to accent her swirly hip movements. lykke was a treat and for those of you going to the bowery show tonight are in for a treat. dance, dance, dance!

best encore: el perro and del mar and lykke li covering wendy rene's after laughter. it's a old school r&b/soul ditty that i am now in love with. thanks for swedes introducing me to new oldies. apparently, alicia keys recently covered the same tune on her recent album (track 11).