Last week I saw Jens Lekman live not once, but twice. It's been a good period for seeing bands multiple times in a short period, and I'm certainly not complaining about it at all! First up was last Wednesday night's sold out spectacular at the lovely Troubadour. I planted myself on the floor in my super-lovely Peter Jensen skirt and opened up my copy of "London Fields" whilst the crowds flowed in and cramped my sitting space, but most of the people around me were very nice, even going as far to offer me beers because I was on my own at this point.
Luckily, after further Brisbane live show atrocities as support, I found some comrades in pop - the ever lovely Cat, her boyfriend David and young pop kid Ren - and we enjoyed an hour's worth of a jetlagged Jens and his band. Mostly playing tracks off the new album, the addition of the band on this tour certainly added some joviality to his set. He is such a raconteur, too - hearing him tell the story of "Nina I Can't Be Your Boyfriend" made the night. Actually, hearing a sold-out Brisbane crowd channelling Calvin Johnston in "Pocketful of Money" made me smile a whole lot.
I also had the chance to see Jens at the Manning Bar in Sydney - thanks work! Support came by way of the evergreen Gary Olson, who played a set of Ladybug Transistor songs with a fine collection of Melburnians by his side - three of the Lucksmiths, Fred Astereo and a girl called Jane on keys. All the songs off "Can't Wait Another Day" sounded terrific live, and the band sounded tight despite quite a short rehearsal time, I imagine.
The Jens set was much the same as the Brisbane show, and I think the Brisbane show was much better - maybe it's because it all seemed much more spontaneous at the time. Regardless, it was still a terrific set. Here's a zoomed in picture of Jens basking in the spotlight:
Isn't he dreamy? There was a guy standing in front of me who sure thought so, too - or, at least his booty sure did! I have a video of said dancin' - if you'd like to see it, please let me know!
Lucky me will see Jens for the third time this year when he plays All Tomorrow's Parties in May - so excited!
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