She cannot do the Smurf

Third gig in a week!

I first met Rilo Kiley on a very wet Sunday morning in 2004 at Glastonbury's Other Stage - there can't have been more than one hundred people in the crowd, but the band were VERY happy to be there and managed to impart a little Californian sunshine to an otherwise somewhat miserable situation. The following year the weather was even more miserable (Google "2005 Glastonbury") but they were at least playing under cover in the John Peel tent - and I never quite got round to seeing them live again before they split in 2010, so I assumed that was the end of that...

...but then last year, they announced they were getting back on the road and playing some dates in the US and a few dates in Europe, including one at the Roundhouse (which is one of my favourite London venues). And I heard about all this the day after the tickets sold out in no time, so I assumed that was the end of that...

...but then they kindly decided (just for me?) to add an extra date at the Shepherds Bush Empire, so Cinderella could go to the ball after all! And boy, was the weather different from the Marina gig six days previously - which is probably best because, although the Empire is a very pretty venue, I imagine the temperature can rise to sweatbox conditions very rapidly, whereas last night it was reasonably pleasant, despite being very busy.

Before we get to the main event, we had a support act - Matthew Caws, who I'd never heard of but you may know from Nada Surf or Minor Alps (but you probably don't). He made some decent enough sounds though - I was reminded of The Flaming Lips, except there was just him and his guitar on stage as opposed to a cast of thousands. He also seemed like a thoroughly nice guy, ending the show with "thank you so much - you're so very lovely" - and that's what I remember most from his whole set!

Matthew had a decent enough sized crowd but by the time Rilo Kiley rocked up, the place was rammed - maybe they didn't put the extra night on for just me after all. And they delivered exactly what was wanted - a set spread across their albums, with the crowd singing along to everything. My favourite album of theirs is More Adventurous with "It's A Hit" and "Portions For Foxes" going down particularly well but The Execution Of All Things ("A Better Son/Daughter", "With Arms Outstretched" and the title track) and Under The Blacklight ("Breakin' Up", "Dreamworld", "The Moneymaker") also being well represented and appreciated - and they really haven't dated, still sounding very fresh. 

The band sound fresh too - you really wouldn't know they've been away for as long as they have (these gigs are their first in the UK in 19 years), because they sound great and everything is very tight with a lot of skill on display. The band are lead by Jenny Lewis (who started as a child actor before giving it all up for music) who sings and plays guitar, bass or keyboards as the mood takes her and she's backed up by Blake Sennett (another child actor) who is very handy on the guitar but also sings a couple of tracks, Pierre de Reeder who switches between guitar and bass, Harrison Whitford who prefers guitar or keyboards and Jason Boesel who only plays the drums - what a loser! One thing they don't do though is banter - we don't really get anything until the encores when, amusingly, they drag one of their crew on stage to dance (he doesn't seem too disappointed at the attention).

All in all, this was a great evening which delivered exactly what the fans wanted after all these years - the woman stood in front of me had seen them at the Roundhouse the night before and bought a ticket to this gig on the train on the way home! Hopefully before they decide to pack it in for good, we'll get to see them over here again - or maybe even some new music?!?

OK - that's it for me for gigs until September so I won't be bothering you again for a bit!