Jon Brion, Canal Room

alice ayers - Jon Brion, Canal Room

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	Wed, Oct. 26th, 2005 10:30 am

Jon Brion, Canal Room

Last night,

mysteryjesse, his friends Mike Viola, Jason and I saw Jon Brion at the Canal Room and it was awesome, in the truest sense of the word. We saw the late show- he went on about 11:20, he played songs from Meaningless and a little from I Heart Huckabees. (He did the score for that as well as Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, among being known for producing Aimee Mann, Fiona Apple and, most recently, Kanye West.) He would play a drum track, then get up and play a piano track over it and then get up and play guitar and sing. It was amazing- he is good at everything, and had so much fun that it was just wonderful to watch. He entertained the thought of almost everything the audience shouted (he said in a Time Out NY interview that he never uses a set list)even pausing to say he didn't remember all the words to Hey, Big Spender.

some memorable covers

Love My Way
Sail Away (the Randy Newman, not the STYX)
Life On Mars
I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)
Maps (one of my all-time favorite songs, for better or worse)
Billie, Don't Be A Hero (seriously)
Take The A Train
Just What I Needed (Jon Brion asked the audience to sing the synth part. He said the next time he needs a synth track, he's calling all 500 people into the room.)

Brooklyn Vegan said that Rhett Miller joined him in the early show but there we no special guests at the late show. The late show, though, went really late til almost 2am when the audience was told they could stay or they could go- about a third of the audience stayed and he came back and played for another half hour, ending with Pale Blue Eyes.

Jon Brion plays one more show tonight at 7:30 at the Canal Room and as of 2:30 am, there were still tickets available.

blergeatkitty

the unforgivable crime is soft hitting

	Wed, Oct. 26th, 2005 04:00 pm (UTC)

Mike Viola is a friend of a friend of yours?

That's awesome. I LOVE his music.

alice_ayers

showing not telling

	Wed, Oct. 26th, 2005 04:12 pm (UTC)

Yeah, he's a friend of mysteryjesse- I just met him last night- he was cool and gracious.

Do you know the song Make No Mistake? It's a perfect song.

Also, he'll have a new album [on vinyl and iTunes only] really soon- December, I think. Very exciting.

pharminatrix

Secret Agent Beach Party

	Wed, Oct. 26th, 2005 04:24 pm (UTC)

Was that the Tea Guy or someone else?

alice_ayers

showing not telling

	Wed, Oct. 26th, 2005 04:28 pm (UTC)

Oh! Different! The Tea Guy was Chris- you got his card, no?

pharminatrix

Secret Agent Beach Party

	Wed, Oct. 26th, 2005 04:30 pm (UTC)

I'm not sure that I did. I'll have to look in my bag.

The show sounds fun. I ended up eating crabmeat & pork soup dumplings and reading Murakami in an empty restaurant. It was cinematic. Then I grabbed a redbean ice cream cone. It was the perfect end to a delightful evening. Thank you for dragging me out.

alice_ayers

showing not telling

	Wed, Oct. 26th, 2005 04:34 pm (UTC)

Good. I'm glad you had fun- I did, too.

Did you grab the cone at The Chinatown Ice Cream Factory? That place is awesome, especially their Almond Cookie flavor.

pharminatrix

Secret Agent Beach Party

	Wed, Oct. 26th, 2005 04:35 pm (UTC)

Of course! It's right next door to where I had the soup dumplings.

I swear by their sugar cones. Best in the industry.

sparkle_shortz

army of sparkle

	Wed, Oct. 26th, 2005 05:13 pm (UTC)

Maps by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs?

alice_ayers

showing not telling

	Wed, Oct. 26th, 2005 06:01 pm (UTC)

Yup.

sparkle_shortz

army of sparkle

	Wed, Oct. 26th, 2005 06:06 pm (UTC)

Love it. Terrible karaoke song though, very hard to sing.

alice_ayers

showing not telling

	Wed, Oct. 26th, 2005 06:10 pm (UTC)

Actually, that's one karoake song I have full and utter confidence in my ability to rock.

sparkle_shortz

army of sparkle

	Wed, Oct. 26th, 2005 06:13 pm (UTC)

interesting. well let me know when and where.

lapsedmodernist

life as thick ethnography

	Wed, Oct. 26th, 2005 11:44 pm (UTC)

I want to karaooooke too. I would sing Genie in a Bottle. Yes.

alice_ayers

showing not telling

	Thu, Oct. 27th, 2005 02:27 pm (UTC)

Let's talk Nooooooovember. (And/or next week.)

labrujah

Snidely Whiplash

	Wed, Oct. 26th, 2005 05:49 pm (UTC)

hi! I added you. We have a lot of people in common...

alice_ayers

showing not telling

	Wed, Oct. 26th, 2005 06:05 pm (UTC)

Sure, I like new people.

nothinganything

Adam

	Wed, Oct. 26th, 2005 06:31 pm (UTC)

I can't imagine how awesome "Life on Mars" was.
Did he play all of "Meaningless"? "I believe she's lying" is a favorite track...

alice_ayers

showing not telling

	Wed, Oct. 26th, 2005 06:40 pm (UTC)

SO AWESOME! He asked the crowd to sing the chorus and all the hundreds of people was just BEAMING.

He played most of the album and, I believe, that track.

Maybe someday he'll tour your way?

nothinganything

Adam

	Wed, Oct. 26th, 2005 06:41 pm (UTC)

HIGHLY DOUBTFUL IN ALL CAPS, my friend. I doubt I'll ever see him (or Jason Falkner, for that matter) without traveling to LA.

Has "Meaningless" been released now?

emrecom
ian

	Thu, Oct. 27th, 2005 07:01 am (UTC)

How did he go about playing Life on Mars?

Actually, the awesomeness of doing the Styx Sail Away would have been awesomer.

alice_ayers

showing not telling

	Thu, Oct. 27th, 2005 02:31 pm (UTC)

Just him and a piano. AWESOME.

"Whoever said STYX deserves to be stoned..."

jordanbaker

lala

	Thu, Oct. 27th, 2005 05:08 pm (UTC)

Isn't that place ridiculous? I saw Acid Mothers Temple there last Friday, and we sat in the VIP section...it's the only time I've ever watched a guitar be destroyed by a drunk Japanese hippie while sitting on a leather banquette.

Because of the venue, there were a bunch of frat boys/drunk Long Islanders there, and they ended up LOVING the show. It was so funny to me.

Love
Laura

alice_ayers

showing not telling

	Fri, Oct. 28th, 2005 04:11 pm (UTC)

It totally is. One of commentors on Brooklyn Vegan's post siad that the place may be beating out WEbster Hall for the most hated venue these days.

Which reminds me I have to decide if I want to go to the Dresden Dolls show tonight at Webster Hall because, really, I just want to nap now and not wake up til Saturday morning.

jordanbaker

lala

	Fri, Oct. 28th, 2005 04:15 pm (UTC)

I didn't actually have a problem with the venue itself--we didn't wait in any line, and the sound was really great, AND I got to sit down and see the show at the same time (hi, I'm old!), so whatever. I guess if I were really into things being somehow dirty to prove they're cool, I'd have hated it, but I'm into selling out for comfort these days.

Love
Laura