Monday, April 16, 2007

VYT Concert Review: Sean Lennon at Irving Plaza 4/13/07

Friday the Thirteenth brought a few strange things this year. First I found out that Irving Plaza is now called the "Fillmore New York At Irving Plaza." Secondly, I didn't eat lunch (which is just fuckin' wrong). And third, I enjoyed the Sean Lennon Concert a whole helluva lot.

His band was tight. He sounded good. The songs were that perfect blend of "what you know and love from the album" and "an energetic live cut." He was funny, if not a bit insane. The beer was cold and not as expensive as I imagined. And my girlfriend abandoned her polo shirt and dressed genuinely rock and roll. I was happy.

He came out during the opener to sing the final song with them. I don't remember their name and I didn't really enjoy them. So when Sean arrived onstage for his own set, I knew what to expect. He is very impish, in full suit and beard, long hair, old lady glasses, and an ever present glass of red wine. His guitar was a dark wood acoustic which he played most of the show. He looked happy up there, and he was engaging and funny. Irving's crowd was perfect size and so close to the stage he seemed to be having conversations with the first few rows.

He won me over when he sheepishly took a swig of his wine and said "side effects may include extreme rock n' roll," and launched into a great version of "Dead Meat."

He switched to a Fender Jazzman-esque electric guitar (which he said was just purchased) about a quarter way through. As it was strapped on, to sound check it, he noodled "Over the Hills and Far Away" by Led Zeppelin, and nailed it. The crowd went pretty crazy (which surprised me, I didn't think Hipsters were allowed to like Zepp) but alas, no covers were to be played. His chops were showcased on "Falling In and Out of Love," which sounded better live.

There was a funny, Nigel Tufnel moment during "Falling" also, when he knelt down to solo. He was squatting down there for a while, and at one point the roadie came out right behind him. I thought he was going to help him up, but he just fixed the amp and ran back off stage. Sean rose to his feet and intentional comedy was averted, but I chuckled nonetheless.

At this point I thought to myself, "thank god I don't date short girls." Why? Well because short girls are high maintenance at concerts. They cant see anything. It sucks for them and for you, as you have to keep moving to clear their line of vision.

One of my disappointments was his lack of guests. I know, sounds very bratty, but I've heard great stories of all of his famous friends joining him at local gigs. And this is as local of a gig as he has on this tour. No Ryan Adams, no Jenny Lewis, no Yoko even! She was backstage and he did name check her, but she never came out. Boo Yoko, Boo!

He closed his set with "Headlights," which on the album is acoustic and choppy. Live, it was very uptempo, bluesy, bouncy and electric, and probably the best song all night. He rocked his Jazzman guitar again, and really let loose on it. There was the inevitable encore, but I don't remember it. I was drunk, and "Headlights" was the highlight. That and the free condoms.

So overall, the show was a...fuck. I'm going to need to come up with some cool/witty rating for concerts and albums for this site. So for now, as a placeholder, this concert was an 7 of 10. Fun, intimate, rocking, cheap, great experience but not life changing. Sean Lennon definitely has a magnetism about him on stage, either because you are looking at the living link to a lost genius, or because he is on his own a great musician. All I know is that I woke up the next morning with his songs in my head and feeling the side effects he warned me of.

1 comment:

Jack the Rabbit said...

john lennon is the most overrated musician of all time