Showcase: Jenny Lewis & Friends @ The Observatory (06/22/12)

 

Our brutally honest review, #afterthebreak…

Jenny Lewis at The Observatory in Santa Ana featuring The Watson Twins, Nik Freitas, & Johnathan Rice

06/22/12

== Highlights ==

His words still echo in the back of my mind…”Sir, you need to put your camera away“.  Like it was the first time all over again.  Three days and I am still questioning it.  Why?  What did I do so wrong that caused this security guard to shut us down?  I was only taking pictures.  Everyone else around me was.  Videos too.  Hell, the guy right of me had a beautiful Nikon DSLR with bright flash.  Luckily the “Zooey Deschanel” looking woman to my left…who I’m 80% was the ‘new girl‘ herself joined by the new BF…kept hers in the bag.  LCD twinkles are common place at concerts, but all of a sudden when indie rock legend– Jenny Lewis and her friends (Nik Freitas/Watson Twins/Johnathan Rice) transitioned to the new material– The Observatory went into lock down.

***SLAM***

Was I too blame for this change?  Did I spent too much time firing shots?  Did it piss off Jenny?  Johnny?  Their publicist?  The professional-unskilled-photog rivals?  The people behind me?  All questions left to the abyss.  Never in my 2 years of doing this music blogging thing has a venue, that seemed open to all types of cameras, switch their policy halfway through a show.  My only conclusion is that…people like me…ruined the fun for everyone.  Which baffles me because this was Ms. Lewis’ final show on her “I ‘heart’ Cali” tour that started up north by San Francisco, down the coast, concluding in her ‘hometown’ of the real OC.  A place, she stated, that lead her down this indie rock road.  She was home.  Doesn’t get any more celebratory then that.  Why the iron fist then?

Complaining was all I heard from the squabbling crowd as they emerged from the stinky, sweltering Observatory Friday night.  Sure they got the real Jenny Lewis experience in all it’s glory, but it all seemed watered down by poor security, harsh regulations, and inefficient a/c.  The Observatory stinks.  Literally.  Like a group of dead rodents are tucked away under the floor boards sacrificed during too many punk concerts.  How I picture it now is as if “The Troubadour and Wiltern had a pre-mature baby in which they ostracized to the OC”.  Worst…let me stress that again…worst venue I had ever been to.  Ever.  Stay away.

Jenny Lewis was too good for that stink hole.  And if Ms. Lewis and her team was to blame for the lock down…well, it’s hard for me to be mad.  Because I am a fan.  Still remember the first time ‘Run Devil Run‘ played off a mixtape at a college party.  Or when I picked up Rilo Kiley’s “More Adventurous” years later at a vintage record shop in Marina Del Rey based off a recommendation from my friend ‘K’.  Or the two times I saw Jenny & Johnny rock Los Angeles two years in a row.  So many memories.

This was my third Jenny Lewis show in three consecutive years and I had low expectations going in.  Could lightning strike in the same spot three times?  Scientifically, not yet.  In this case, yes and by far this was the most powerful.  Jenny and her Friends brought their ‘A’ Game in front of her hometown crowd…which consisted of mostly couples & close friends.

Nik Freitas (Lewis’ friend & definitely not Matt Nathanson from the year 2032) opened the show with his mellow, melancholy, indie folk rock that I have experienced before.  A year later and still very sad to listen to.  It’s a indie acoustic rock.  Don’t fight it.  Just put on some flannel and sway.  You’re going to be moved through lyrical poetry that pulls at your heart strings.  If you want dancing, go  hunt down some rich kid’s party.  Heard standing by an Forever 21 works wonders for that or drugs.  Nik made this crappy venue feel more like a intimate coffee house for thirty minutes.  If that coffee house was based in a sewage pipe.  The electric jam pack crowd couldn’t have been more supportive.

Nik would reappear later to play back up to Ms. Lewis, who started her classic set…solo.

Trust me, that initial crowd roar when she tip toed through the curtain up to her mic is something I’ll remember for the rest of the year.  This collective sound of excitement, now unleashed, had been building for almost three years.  Waiting for the moment when Jenny reclaimed her solo ‘throne’.

And she was blown away by our energy.  How so?  Ms. Lewis couldn’t stop smiling as we sang along to the opening acoustic version of Rilo Kiley’s “Silver Lining“.  A song that is so haunting/powerful that it gave me chills.  The crowd wouldn’t have cared if no one else showed.  They loved having their ‘Jenny’ back, angelic voice and all.  Nevertheless, the friends rolled out soon after as the biggest pop of the night went to The Watson Twins’ reveal.  Not a shocker for me because I did my research, but did love the responses from the young girls all around me repeating: “oh my god!”

Check out the set list below to see if she played any of your favorites.  I think my favorite moment, even though I didn’t capture it on camera, was her performance of “Bad Man’s World“.  She appreciated that, since ‘The Hangover 2‘ brought it mainstream levels, the song has found it’s way onto hip-hop samples.  “Keep them coming”, Jenny says.  Two other honorable mentions was her performances of “See Fernando” & “Portions for Foxes“.  The later is my favorite Jenny Lewis song and the way she walked on the barrier, posing and greeting the crazy crowd, during the Spanish inspired ‘Fernando’ jam would’ve made for amazing shots.

There is so much more I can rant about from this incredible/weird show, but I’ll save you the time.  Know I’m already be criticized for being a non professional rookie with nothing of substance to say.  In which, I reply…who cares?  Opinions matter.  No matter how poorly they are written.  What will speak more is the fact that I will NEVER spend another dime at The Observatory/Galaxy.

Ultimately, unless my future gf/wife/daughter/son, wants to see this indie rock legend live…I’m content.  No other Jenny Lewis show could top this showcase.  Perfect end to three years.

Thank you Jenny, Johnny, Chandra, Leigh, and Nik for leaving all of it on stage.  Sorry again for all the beautiful pictures.  Observatory, you still suck.

-J

[PS: Sorry for typos…was typing in a rage.  lol]

Read More:

• OC Weekly
• Rock NYC
• Robots For Hire

== Set List ==

1. Silver Lining (Rilo Kiley)
2. Run Devil Run 
3. The Big Guns 
4. Rise Up with Fists!! 
5. The Charging Sky 
6. You Are What You Love 
7. Melt Your Heart 
8. Happy 
9. Just One of the Guys 
10. You Can’t Outrun Them 
11. Big Wave (Jenny & Johnny)
12. Carpetbaggers 
13. See Fernando 
14. The Next Messiah 
15. Bad Man’s World 
16. Head Under Water 
17. Jack Killed Mom 
18. Portions for Foxes (Rilo Kiley)
19. Handle with Care (Traveling Wilburys)

Encore:

1. A Better Son/Daughter (Rilo Kiley)
2. I Met Him on a Sunday (The Shirelles)
3. Acid Tongue

== Value ==

$25 for all your favorite Jenny Lewis classics and characters?  Hard offer not to past up…even if you live in the Los Angeles valley.  Wouldn’t be surprised if this was an one time deal either.  Experimenting with new tracks tells me that the upcoming months will ultimately lead to a new record and tour.  Happy I got to experience the real Jenny Lewis that my friend got me into.  She was right.

Bonus: Parking at The Observatory is free and first come first serve.  For early birds, like me, that made the admission price worthy.  No problem if you get there early enough.  Anything past the start time & you’ll have to wing it.  Nevertheless, if you read everything above, I say stay away from the venue at all cost.

== Photography Notes ==

The bittersweet regret I feel is not that cameras were banned halfway through the show.  No, it’s because I was in the perfect spot–  dead center, on the railing, over the crowded pit.  A spot that I never get.  Being tall and self conscious usually forces me to the back of the room behind an equally tall guy with big head who…unlike me…doesn’t gives a rat’s ass of who’s in his shadows.  I make it work, but I had to sit in traffic for 2 hours and I really wanted some good pictures.   How did you think I did?

That was my downfall.  For the major lesson from this showcase is that “a sniper out in the open will always be shot first”.  Use the bush, keep moving, forget video, and make your shots count.  The outcome will always be blurry, but remember you’re making art…not portraits.

*** The Observatory needs to put together a photo guideline package on their website because changing the rules in the middle of the show is distracting to the audience and the performers.  ****

== Photo Selects ==

(…this is the part where she starts to hate me)

(…at this point cameras were banned, but we didn’t care!)