06/20/2007: "Recent Show - Ben Gibbard - Royce Hall UCLA - 5.17.07 . . ."

music: The Cutter - Echo and the Bunnymen
mood: (odd that you would call as I was typing this)

. . .and by recent I mean a month ago. I've been hesitant to post anything about the recent shows I've been to (Arcade Fire, Jesus and Mary Chain, Voxtrot, Senor Gibbard) simply because I always find it difficult to write about music and feel I would be doing the experience an injustice by putting it into writing.

But the Gibbard show, for many reasons that I will not get into, was a very special affair. A last minute invite for seats that were two rows from the stage. We missed the opening acts - Jonathan Rice and David Bazan - and I regretted it later when I found out that Bazan did a cover of Radiohead's "Let Down" and Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" and Jenny Lewis joined Jonathan on stage for a song during his set (don't know which one). Considering the ticket was free and I did not make a big deal of seeing the opening acts when we arranged the carpooling, I did not go kicking myself over it.

Well, Ben brought his A-game that night, went through all the hits and even brought out Jenny Lewis (OMG) for his encore presentation of "Nothing Better". For the very last sing Gibbard invited onto the stage Jonathan Rice, Jimmy Tamborello and David Bazan for Such Great Heights, which Jenny sang along, too.

The notable songs of the night for me were "I Will Follow You Into the Dark" and "A Lack of Color," a song for which I always hear the lyrics "to call at 703" as "to call a 703" because it's a Northern Virginia Area code that a former lovely of mine used to hold.

The ultimate highlight was his cover of Squeeze's "Up the Junction." The song's simple narrative of unexpected romance, dashed hopes and failed love was so perfect for the situation I found myself in that night that I put my hand over my mouth.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find a recording of the song that night, but here's a recording of the song from his Seattle show, courtesy of Uberdrivel.

(beggin's not my business)

Ben Gibbard - Up the Junction (live Seattle)

Another review with complete set list