Elvis Perkins at Scala
Elvis Perkins
Dawn Landes
Scala, 22 September 2009
Dawn Landes bounds onto the stage with a huge grin on her face. Wearing a high-neck Victorian blouse, orange 70s-style cords and a ponytail, she almost looks like a kids' TV presenter and is considerably cuter than photos I had seen of her. Running behind the keyboard and beginning a bouncy number called Young Girl, immediately it became apparent that this was going to be a performance filled with fun and it was a refreshing, happy change from all the maudlin female singer-songwriters that seem to be dominating the scene at the moment.
Backed with a bearded bassist and a kick-ass drummer, her set was filled with bubbly poppy tunes, stomping country and grooving rockers and even the acoustic numbers ended with the band kicking in and Dawn turning on her distortion pedal. She sang songs in French, songs about her grandmother and songs with playground rhymes, while in between she was chatty and friendly with the audience, all the time smiling like she was having as much fun as we were. When she played the song Picture Show the Dearland guys from Elvis Perkins' band joined her onstage for something of a hoedown, the crowded stage filled with smiles and dancing. It's rare you see a support act that beats the main act but Dawn Landes managed it with her energetic, joyful performance. Definitely not the quiet, twee folk I was expecting and all the better for it.
I've seen Elvis Perkins In Dearland (as he likes to call his band) a couple of times now and, like Dawn Landes, they always surprised me by turning quiet, soulful, sad songs into spirited celebrations. This time, however, there was a spark missing from their performance and the whole thing felt very muted. Not that the band didn't seem to enjoy themselves, and it was the most talkative I've ever seen Mr Perkins, but some new jaunty arrangements of some of Elvis' most heartbreaking songs were a little disappointing.
The whole thing started well with Dearland minus Elvis playing out in the audience, like an old-time brass band, and making their way through the crowd to the stage. Then Elvis emerged, once again looking different to the time before, this time wearing a big old hat complete with feather that made him look like a member of The Black Crowes. They started the show pretty much playing all the new songs from their soon to be released EP (I managed to get a copy at the show but I think the CD comes out in shops in October), all of which sounded a little under-rehearsed. "I guess you don't know these songs yet," said Elvis, to the muted response. I like hearing new material live but personally I think it would have been more effective interspersed with the older material.
Things started to pick up when they moved on to more familiar material such as I Heard Your Voice In Dresden, Chains, Chains, Chains, All The Night Without Love and While You Were Sleeping, although the gorgeous Emile's Vietnam In The Sky was regrettably turned into a merry Mexican-style number complete with silly accents. The greatest moment of the night, surprisingly, was the encore when Elvis returned to the stage alone to play an acoustic number by himself. He asked for requests, I wanted to shout out for Moon Woman II one of my favourites from his debut Ash Wednesday, but it was too late, a request for Sleep Sandwich was fulfilled. But it was haunting, moving and just beautiful, and I have to say, made me wish I was seeing him without Dearland, something I had never felt before. Maybe because he had raised the bar out alone on the stage, when the band returned they suddenly kicked into gear and the last two songs, the amazing foot-tapping loveliness of Shampoo and the celebratory Doomsday, which saw Dawn and her band return the favour and join the fun on stage, were lively and energetic. Sadly though the show livened up just as it was ending.
I'll give the band benefit of the doubt, they have been on tour most of the year and the two times I've seen them before they were great, but this time I left wishing that I could have heard the beauty of Elvis' most poignant songs in their original stripped down form, rather than losing their power by being turned into something much more lightweight. So hopefully a solo acoustic tour for Elvis sometime in the future, but I'm sure there's life in Dearland yet, it maybe just needs a little rest first.
Scala, 22 September 2009
Dawn Landes bounds onto the stage with a huge grin on her face. Wearing a high-neck Victorian blouse, orange 70s-style cords and a ponytail, she almost looks like a kids' TV presenter and is considerably cuter than photos I had seen of her. Running behind the keyboard and beginning a bouncy number called Young Girl, immediately it became apparent that this was going to be a performance filled with fun and it was a refreshing, happy change from all the maudlin female singer-songwriters that seem to be dominating the scene at the moment.
Backed with a bearded bassist and a kick-ass drummer, her set was filled with bubbly poppy tunes, stomping country and grooving rockers and even the acoustic numbers ended with the band kicking in and Dawn turning on her distortion pedal. She sang songs in French, songs about her grandmother and songs with playground rhymes, while in between she was chatty and friendly with the audience, all the time smiling like she was having as much fun as we were. When she played the song Picture Show the Dearland guys from Elvis Perkins' band joined her onstage for something of a hoedown, the crowded stage filled with smiles and dancing. It's rare you see a support act that beats the main act but Dawn Landes managed it with her energetic, joyful performance. Definitely not the quiet, twee folk I was expecting and all the better for it.
The whole thing started well with Dearland minus Elvis playing out in the audience, like an old-time brass band, and making their way through the crowd to the stage. Then Elvis emerged, once again looking different to the time before, this time wearing a big old hat complete with feather that made him look like a member of The Black Crowes. They started the show pretty much playing all the new songs from their soon to be released EP (I managed to get a copy at the show but I think the CD comes out in shops in October), all of which sounded a little under-rehearsed. "I guess you don't know these songs yet," said Elvis, to the muted response. I like hearing new material live but personally I think it would have been more effective interspersed with the older material.
Things started to pick up when they moved on to more familiar material such as I Heard Your Voice In Dresden, Chains, Chains, Chains, All The Night Without Love and While You Were Sleeping, although the gorgeous Emile's Vietnam In The Sky was regrettably turned into a merry Mexican-style number complete with silly accents. The greatest moment of the night, surprisingly, was the encore when Elvis returned to the stage alone to play an acoustic number by himself. He asked for requests, I wanted to shout out for Moon Woman II one of my favourites from his debut Ash Wednesday, but it was too late, a request for Sleep Sandwich was fulfilled. But it was haunting, moving and just beautiful, and I have to say, made me wish I was seeing him without Dearland, something I had never felt before. Maybe because he had raised the bar out alone on the stage, when the band returned they suddenly kicked into gear and the last two songs, the amazing foot-tapping loveliness of Shampoo and the celebratory Doomsday, which saw Dawn and her band return the favour and join the fun on stage, were lively and energetic. Sadly though the show livened up just as it was ending.
I'll give the band benefit of the doubt, they have been on tour most of the year and the two times I've seen them before they were great, but this time I left wishing that I could have heard the beauty of Elvis' most poignant songs in their original stripped down form, rather than losing their power by being turned into something much more lightweight. So hopefully a solo acoustic tour for Elvis sometime in the future, but I'm sure there's life in Dearland yet, it maybe just needs a little rest first.
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