The Big Guns

concert review: Jenny Lewis with The Watson Twins, Johnathan Rice, Whispertown 2000 @ The Opera House(Toronto, Ontario), March 16, 2006

If you weren't a country music fan before Thursday's Jenny Lewis show at The Opera House, then I'd say that Jenny Lewis made a great case for one to explore the genre. Yes, I know a lot of people say that her music off her debut solo effort "Rabbit Fur Coat" isn't country music[maybe her brand of 'country music' is for people who don't like country music], but there were enough country trimmings[steel pedal, twanginess, even the wardrobe] during her set that I think firmly establishes her love for the genre. In fact, the two openers furthered the cause with their music.

First openers were the 4-member Whispertown 2000 out of Los Angeles consisting of two cute young ladies, Morgan Nagler and Vanessa Corballa on vocals and two young gents, Colt Maloney and Tod Adrian Wisenbaker on guitar and bass guitar respectively. Yes, if you've been paying attention, they do not have a drummer. I thought this was a little gimmicky although they did provide a percussive elements with bits of tambourine. Thankfully, the band's brand of minimalist countrified indiepop was charming enough to prove that a drummer wasn't necessary. While Morgan's raspy childlike vocals were initially awkward I grew fond of it as the set wore on. Actually, background vocalist Vanessa Corballa definitely had stronger vocals, and I'm wondering why she never took reigns of lead vocals. Instrumentally, the music was fleshed out by Morgan's simple acoustic guitar strums/melodies, Tod's competent bass lines, and Colt's thoughtful guitar noodling. It is of note to mention that Whispertown were in fact late by about half an hour for their scheduled 8:10 pm set time because, as Morgan mentioned, it took them 6 hours from the US border to drive up to Toronto in their van. Yes, without so much as a soundcheck, the band was shaky at first, but charmed the pants off us in the end. Their last song was a playful ode to drinking and the dead that reminded me alot of The Barmitzah Brothers.

Next up was Jenny Lewis' beau, Johnathan Rice. I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed his music. Without any previous knowledge of his music, for some reason[maybe, it's his name], I was expecting some sort of lame-ass singer-songwriter bullshit. The most outstanding element of his music is his vocals, which had a swagger-ish Ricky Nelson resonating quality to it. With Johnathan Rice on acoustic guitar and his cohort who he referred to as Farmer Dave on pedal steel guitar/keyboards, they performed a set of swagger-y country ballads with really good melodies. Johnathan at one point encouraged the audience to sing along to a song which had lyrics along the lines of "We're all stuck out in the desert and we're gonna die, wipe the salt and sand from your blister and eyes." When security confiscated the camera of someone near the front of the stage[which is another story; yes cameras were not allowed during the show], Johnathan quipped that well then maybe we'll just have to listen to the music. I noticed chatter during Johnathan's set and finally it seems he was fed up because after he played his final tune during which I recall him inserting the lyrics "what the fuck", he walked off the stage and Farmer Dave followed, only after sarcastically saying "blah, blah, blah, blah." They were none too happy, and perhaps they over-reacted to the chatter, but I still think they performed a good set.

Without a doubt I can say that from the first note of Jenny Lewis and The Watson Twins strolling onto the stage singing acapella, "Run Devil Run" which led into the romp of "The Big Guns", Jenny had the audience captivated. Jenny and The Watson Twins' band was rounded out by a bass guitarist and drummer as well as Johnathan and Farmer Dave on acoustic guitar and keyboards respectively. Jenny was dressed in an old-style June Carter Cash-ish blue gown, The Watson Twins were dressed in long black dresses and guys were decked out similarly in cool-looking Flying Burritos Brothers-ish shirts and slacks. They pretty much performed all the songs off "Rabbit Fur Coat" except "Handle With Me Care". It was surprising how attentive the audience was that even during Jen's quietest moments like her solo performance of "Rabbit Fur Coat" with her sweet-as-honey vocals, there was absolutely no chatter whatsoever. Rounding out the setlist were other songs like the country-soul of new song "Jack Killed Mom" and a yet-untitled-song(for which a audience member cheekily suggested the title "Pumpernickel"). They also played a song called "Paradise" which was from a split single Jenny released with Whispertown 2000. They ended the main set in fine dramatic fashion with each person walking off the stage separately waving to the audience, first starting with Jenny and ending with her drummer after an extended drum solo. Amazing. Coming back for an encore, Jenny and the Watson gals(who I must mention were in fine vocal form the entire night) first came on to perform a fantastic cover of doo-wop song, The Shirelles' "I Met Him On A Sunday". I recall later Johnathan and Farmer Dave, then the rest of the band coming on for a song or two more. However, it was the song[I think it's a cover song actually] featuring Johnathan and Jenny on duet vocals, Jenny with her exhuberant singing and Jonathan during his part which sounded very Johnny Cash-ish in its spoken wordness, that makes me think that Jenny and Johnathan could be this generation's Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash. I'm not necessarily saying they'll reach such high musical achievements but at the very least they are a very fine tribute to those musical icons.

Unfortunately, I wasn't allowed to bring in my P&S digital camera because The Opera House security guard I spoke to said that the artists weren't allowing photos. It did seem that at least a few people managed to smuggle their cameras in, although security personnel did manage to catch several people in the act of taking photos and subsequently confiscated their cameras temporarily. Really, does Jenny have a no-photos policy at her shows? I'm disappointed if that's true because it's a shame not to be able to document her show without photos. Funny thing is that although I couldn't snap any photos at the show, it was still an awesome experience.

chartattack reviews the show.