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Tour Dates
05/28 Montreal, QC Virgin Mobile Corona*
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05/29 Boston, MA Berklee Performance* 05/30 Philadelphia, PA Keswick Theatre* 05/31 Washington, DC Lincoln Theater* 06/01 New York, NY Apollo Theater* 06/03 Detroit, MI Royal Oak* 06/04 Madison, WI Barrymore Theater* 06/07 Seattle, WA Moore Theater* 06/08 Portland, OR Aladdin Theater* 06/10 San Francisco, CA Palace of Fine Arts* 06/11 Los Angeles, CA Orpheum Theater* 06/15 Oxford, UK New Theatre 06/16 Manchester, UK Bridgewater Hall 06/17 Glasgow, UK Academy 06/18 Cambridge, UK Corn Exchange 06/19 Bexhill, UK De La Warr Pavillion 06/21 Linz, Austria Posthof 06/22 Vienna, Austria Konzerthaus 06/24 Berlin, Germany Tempodrome 06/25 Amsterdam Het Koninklijk 06/26 Amsterdam Het Koninklijk 06/27 Rottendam Concertgebouw De Doelen 06/28 Eindhoven Naked Song Festival 06/30 London, UK Royal Albert Hall 07/01 Dublin, Ireland Olympia 07/02 Dublin, Ireland Olympia 07/04 Werchter Festival 07/05 Groningen Stadsschouwburg 07/06 Montreux Montreux Jazz Festival 07/07 Zurick, Switzerland Kongress Haus 07/08 Luxembourg Grand Theatre 07/10 Paris, France Days Off Festival 07/11 Toulouse, France Bikini * Chelsea Wolfe opening
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On Sunday, St. Paul’s gorgeous Fitzgerald Theater played host to a lovely and unforgettable night of music with ethereal opener Chelsea Wolfe, headliner Eels and one very special guest.
As soon as Sacramento-native Chelsea Wolfe stepped out on stage, she immediately conjured up some supple darkness with her mysterious, almost tribal music. It’s an intoxicating combination of folk and goth with Wolfe’s vocals invoking elements of Bjork. I caught Chelsea Wolfe a few weeks earlier, opening for high desert rockers Queens of the Stone Age and, sadly, her set was swallowed up by the Roy Wilkins’ unforgiving walls. Thankfully, the Fitzgerald boasts a superior sound system and Wolfe, accompanied by a keyboardist and violinist/backup vocalist, were really able to shine. Most of her songs feel very ominous, but tunes like “We Hit a Wall” from her most recent album Pain is Beauty saw her wailing mournfully over a drum machine beat, echo-y guitar and the sad, sinuous hum of the violin. It’s both meditative and beautifully unsettling.
A curtain of tiny, white twinkle lights acted as the backdrop for an already intimate-feeling stage. It was a cozy arrangement of instruments underneath dimmed stage lights made cozier by the band themselves. Eels mastermind Mark Oliver Everett (also known as E) and his whimsically named bandmates Knuckles (drums), Upright Al (upright bass), P-Boo (trumpet and guitar) and Everett’s right hand man The Chet (playing guitar and the “sad machine,” pedal steel guitar) received rapturous applause as they walked on stage. Everett set up at the piano and the band eased into “Where I’m At,” the first track of the brand new Eels record The Cautionary Tales of Mark Oliver Everett, followed by a sweet rendition of “When You Wish Upon a Star” and “The Morning,” from 2010’s Tomorrow Morning. “It’s good to be back in Lake Wobegon!” Everett declared before warning us that he was taking us on a journey. “A bummer journey.”
The new songs sounded phenomenal; somber meditations “Lockdown Hurricane,” “Gentlemen’s Choice,” next to the quicker tempoed, revelation-filled “Where I’m From,” “Mistakes of My Youth” and “Where I’m Going.” My favorite song off the new album, “Parallels,” was stunning, utilizing that powerful, soul-penetrating pedal steel and encouraging the waterworks in me much sooner than I anticipated.
Everett sounded fantastic; his voice was the right amount of gruff and croon. He’s an easy going and charming performer. And while the band kept the music coming at a steady pace, Everett talked to and joked with the audience in his very dry way. Noticing four empty seats at the front of the stage, Everett suggested that they be filled by any “cute girls,” noting, “I’m available, you know.” It didn’t take long for the seats to be taken (in the balcony, there was quite a lot of excitement with a handful of women scrambling down the stairs to claim the coveted seats), but not before a brave gentleman tried his luck. Everett saw him and simply said, “No.”
A spritely block of classic Eels made up the second half including “A Daisy Through Concrete,” “Grace Kelly Blues,” and fan-favorite “I Like Birds” from 2000’s Daisies of the Galaxy. A loungy take on Beautiful Freak’s “My Beloved Monster” (no one reimagines his own tunes quite like Everett!) was preceded by a song that feels like true love and smells like spring, “Fresh Feeling” off of 2001’s Souljacker. Knuckles worked the shaker in one hand while keeping time on the drums with the other as Upright Al showcased that sweet, low throb of his upright bass. Later, during the first encore’s “I Like The Way This is Going,” he took a bow to his bass and, as my concert companion pointed out, made it sound like a whole other instrument.
Following “Where I’m Going” was the first of THREE encores, a fan’s dream come true: “I Like The Way This is Going,” delicate lullaby “Blinking Lights (For Me)” and “Last Stop: This Town” in which Knuckles whipped out the sleigh bells and showered the theater in melodious chime. For the second encore, Everett came back out solo, sat down at the piano and dedicated a playfully tender cover of “I Can’t Help Falling In Love With You” to “the nineteen girls I’ve hugged tonight.” And, surely in an effort to make me swoon, the band closed with Harry Nilsson’s “Turn On Your Radio.” Nice. Cue the vapors.
Throughout the course of the night, Everett had been dropping little hints about what was to come later on. He kept making references to journeys, saying something like “It’s not the destination, it’s the journey.” I thought that he was just commenting on the nature of the new album and the theme of the performance. When the band came out for a third and final time, people were anticipating some kind of special guest (my guess was Bob Dylan), but I don’t think anyone could have predicted who would grace that stage. After a brief intro about “you’ve heard him on the radio, probably several times already today,” Everett introduced none other than Steve Perry, the powerhouse vocalist formerly of Journey. There was a moment of confusion and disbelief and then as Perry confidently strode out to join the band for an incredible version of “It’s a Motherfucker,” the floodgates just tore open and the theater exploded. Even the ushers were freaking out! Perry confessed that he loved the song and joked that Eels never perform any Journey songs. Everett challenged, “We were just waiting for you!”
Challenge accepted! What came next was nothing short of magic - Eels kicked into two Journey hits, “Open Arms” and my very favorite Journey song, “Lovin’ Touchin’ Squeezin’.” There are videos on Youtube of this absolutely spectacular performance and anyone who is a fan of either band needs to watch them. Perry has been out of the spotlight for nearly two decades, living quietly in California, keeping that golden voice of his under wraps. And let me tell you, it’s a voice that still soars and pierces. It effortlessly filled every corner of the Fitzgerald theater and raised all the little hairs on every person’s arms. When the “Na-na-na-na-na” part of “Lovin’” came around, the crowd, drunk with giddiness, aided Perry and a massive sing-along ensued. Maybe it’s because I was sitting up on the balcony, but I swear the building gently lifted off the ground and levitated. Oh, the power of music.
As soon as Sacramento-native Chelsea Wolfe stepped out on stage, she immediately conjured up some supple darkness with her mysterious, almost tribal music. It’s an intoxicating combination of folk and goth with Wolfe’s vocals invoking elements of Bjork. I caught Chelsea Wolfe a few weeks earlier, opening for high desert rockers Queens of the Stone Age and, sadly, her set was swallowed up by the Roy Wilkins’ unforgiving walls. Thankfully, the Fitzgerald boasts a superior sound system and Wolfe, accompanied by a keyboardist and violinist/backup vocalist, were really able to shine. Most of her songs feel very ominous, but tunes like “We Hit a Wall” from her most recent album Pain is Beauty saw her wailing mournfully over a drum machine beat, echo-y guitar and the sad, sinuous hum of the violin. It’s both meditative and beautifully unsettling.
A curtain of tiny, white twinkle lights acted as the backdrop for an already intimate-feeling stage. It was a cozy arrangement of instruments underneath dimmed stage lights made cozier by the band themselves. Eels mastermind Mark Oliver Everett (also known as E) and his whimsically named bandmates Knuckles (drums), Upright Al (upright bass), P-Boo (trumpet and guitar) and Everett’s right hand man The Chet (playing guitar and the “sad machine,” pedal steel guitar) received rapturous applause as they walked on stage. Everett set up at the piano and the band eased into “Where I’m At,” the first track of the brand new Eels record The Cautionary Tales of Mark Oliver Everett, followed by a sweet rendition of “When You Wish Upon a Star” and “The Morning,” from 2010’s Tomorrow Morning. “It’s good to be back in Lake Wobegon!” Everett declared before warning us that he was taking us on a journey. “A bummer journey.”
The new songs sounded phenomenal; somber meditations “Lockdown Hurricane,” “Gentlemen’s Choice,” next to the quicker tempoed, revelation-filled “Where I’m From,” “Mistakes of My Youth” and “Where I’m Going.” My favorite song off the new album, “Parallels,” was stunning, utilizing that powerful, soul-penetrating pedal steel and encouraging the waterworks in me much sooner than I anticipated.
Everett sounded fantastic; his voice was the right amount of gruff and croon. He’s an easy going and charming performer. And while the band kept the music coming at a steady pace, Everett talked to and joked with the audience in his very dry way. Noticing four empty seats at the front of the stage, Everett suggested that they be filled by any “cute girls,” noting, “I’m available, you know.” It didn’t take long for the seats to be taken (in the balcony, there was quite a lot of excitement with a handful of women scrambling down the stairs to claim the coveted seats), but not before a brave gentleman tried his luck. Everett saw him and simply said, “No.”
A spritely block of classic Eels made up the second half including “A Daisy Through Concrete,” “Grace Kelly Blues,” and fan-favorite “I Like Birds” from 2000’s Daisies of the Galaxy. A loungy take on Beautiful Freak’s “My Beloved Monster” (no one reimagines his own tunes quite like Everett!) was preceded by a song that feels like true love and smells like spring, “Fresh Feeling” off of 2001’s Souljacker. Knuckles worked the shaker in one hand while keeping time on the drums with the other as Upright Al showcased that sweet, low throb of his upright bass. Later, during the first encore’s “I Like The Way This is Going,” he took a bow to his bass and, as my concert companion pointed out, made it sound like a whole other instrument.
Following “Where I’m Going” was the first of THREE encores, a fan’s dream come true: “I Like The Way This is Going,” delicate lullaby “Blinking Lights (For Me)” and “Last Stop: This Town” in which Knuckles whipped out the sleigh bells and showered the theater in melodious chime. For the second encore, Everett came back out solo, sat down at the piano and dedicated a playfully tender cover of “I Can’t Help Falling In Love With You” to “the nineteen girls I’ve hugged tonight.” And, surely in an effort to make me swoon, the band closed with Harry Nilsson’s “Turn On Your Radio.” Nice. Cue the vapors.
Throughout the course of the night, Everett had been dropping little hints about what was to come later on. He kept making references to journeys, saying something like “It’s not the destination, it’s the journey.” I thought that he was just commenting on the nature of the new album and the theme of the performance. When the band came out for a third and final time, people were anticipating some kind of special guest (my guess was Bob Dylan), but I don’t think anyone could have predicted who would grace that stage. After a brief intro about “you’ve heard him on the radio, probably several times already today,” Everett introduced none other than Steve Perry, the powerhouse vocalist formerly of Journey. There was a moment of confusion and disbelief and then as Perry confidently strode out to join the band for an incredible version of “It’s a Motherfucker,” the floodgates just tore open and the theater exploded. Even the ushers were freaking out! Perry confessed that he loved the song and joked that Eels never perform any Journey songs. Everett challenged, “We were just waiting for you!”
Challenge accepted! What came next was nothing short of magic - Eels kicked into two Journey hits, “Open Arms” and my very favorite Journey song, “Lovin’ Touchin’ Squeezin’.” There are videos on Youtube of this absolutely spectacular performance and anyone who is a fan of either band needs to watch them. Perry has been out of the spotlight for nearly two decades, living quietly in California, keeping that golden voice of his under wraps. And let me tell you, it’s a voice that still soars and pierces. It effortlessly filled every corner of the Fitzgerald theater and raised all the little hairs on every person’s arms. When the “Na-na-na-na-na” part of “Lovin’” came around, the crowd, drunk with giddiness, aided Perry and a massive sing-along ensued. Maybe it’s because I was sitting up on the balcony, but I swear the building gently lifted off the ground and levitated. Oh, the power of music.
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Eels (with Steve Perry) at the Fitzgerald Theater, St. Paul (25 May 2014 |
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