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SHOW REVIEW: Eels

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Eels, with Jesca Hoop and Trish Dunn

When it comes to Eels, I figure we all experienced similar introductions--it was the mid-nineties, and they had an exceptionally memorable music video for their tune “Novocaine (For The Soul).” As I would soon discover, this single was incredibly misleading. The musical potential and phases of Eels were barely represented. I realized this while helping a friend move--Eels with Strings: Live at Town Hall served as our soundtrack. Throughout this release, songs spanning their entire catalog were given a new life in terms of presentation. Eels mastermind Mark Oliver Everett gracefully engaged and challenged audiences by demolishing any preconceived notions they may have had regarding his creative output. I entered the Eels show at the National this past Thursday with these ideas in mind.

The show began with a ventriloquist act by Trish Dunn. At first, I was completely thrown off. Upon further investigation, it appears that Eels have been seeking out local ventriloquists to open their shows. It was fairly bizarre to see this type of act in a venue such as the National. It’s hard to gauge her ten-minute set. Perhaps the set would have been more effective in a tinier, more intimate setting. She rotated between two characters and had a confident rapport with the audience members at the barrier.

Jesca Hoop was the next act. Singer-songwriters are always a tough call. It would be nice to believe that we haven’t developed preconceived notions about singer-songwriters, but we all know that’s not completely accurate. It can be incredibly difficult for a performer to establish themselves as something unique or different when lumped in with the bulk of the performers classified similarly. Thankfully, Hoop was a wonderful relief, her music finding a home among like-minded artists such as Joanna Newsom or Tom Waits (who, incidentally, acted as a mentor to Hoop when she worked for him as a nanny). There was a beautiful flow to her music that incorporated a wonderful vocal dynamic. There was also a jangle to her guitar playing that felt right at home with the high and low vocal registers she comfortably achieved. Hoop’s songs were full of wildly imaginative takes on overdone subject matter that, in her hands, felt refreshing and charming.

Prior to the Eels show, I was aware that the Everett had released three full-lengths within the past year and a half. The set for the evening’s performance was certainly a celebration of this fact. Everett took the stage with just an electric guitar and went straight into a selection of newer songs. There was a haunting feel to this presentation of their recent output that appealed to me greatly. For the rest of the set, Everett was accompanied by a technically proficient backing band. Yet their attire stood out next to Everett’s one-piece white jumpsuit, glorious beard, snazzy shades and bandanna. As I mentioned before, Eels are not a band that can be confined to a specific genre. On this night, Eels were a classic rock/soul outfit, which was entertaining but not quite what I desired from their set.

The best moments of the set were those when the sentiments expressed in Everett's lyrics were the foundation of the performance, as layers upon layers of gentle musical nuance made it easy to delve into the stories the lyrics told. They were effective and didn’t feel contrived. There were many moments where this wasn’t the case, though. It seemed like the harder Everett tried to put across a certain image, the more awkward and less effective the performance was. A particularly awkward moment of the set came when the group went into one of the rockier numbers and Everett stood with his guitar blaring gloriously in overdrive. As it continued to do so, I couldn’t help but laugh, as it felt like the wall of noise might never end. The sound grew louder and louder until its sudden, abrupt ending. The backing band picked up the pieces instantly, which was a testament to their professionalism.

My biggest gripe with the whole show was the way the group felt removed from the audience. Everett only addressed the audience a few times and his comments felt rehearsed. Everyone in the audience, including me, still had a great time, but the infrequent and overly rehearsed nature of the crowd interaction really hurt the show’s momentum. I think it can be agreed that Everett is a very bizarre, interesting personality. I was hoping to see some of this reveal itself in the performance that evening, but I felt as if that never happened.

All in all, the show was perfectly adequate. Perhaps if I were better acquainted with their most recent trilogy of records, this show would have had a greater impact on me. I wouldn’t mind seeing Eels again, but I’d rather go in knowing that the set would celebrate the group’s entire catalog and not just be an overly structured paint-by-numbers set of recent material. Although it was entertaining, I left the show wanting something more than what I’d gotten.


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