An Exclusive Preview of Largo at the Coronet’s 2010 Schedule

Via LAist:

We’ve heard rumors about a schedule change for Jon Brion in the coming year. Will he still play on a regular basis in 2010?

We’re going to mix things up a bit next year. Jon has so much work coming up—he’s doing some producing work with the Punch Brothers and Of Montreal, and he’ll be working on two movies back to back. Plus he really wants to finish his next solo record.

So rather than playing every Friday night, Jon will play one Friday night per month, with the first show on Jan. 22. The other new thing we’ll be doing with Jon is that once a month, probably the Thursday night before his solo Friday gig, he’ll play a show with one other musician—someone like Ben Gibbard, Nels Cline, Andrew Bird or Chris Thile. And once in a while we may add a third person an hour or so into the show, just to see what that new combination would sound like.

Largo News

Email from Largo:

Friday, December 19: The Jon Brion Show. This one may be the last of Jon’s legendary every-Friday-night residency at Largo. In 2010 the plan is that Jon will be doing at least one scheduled show per month, so he’s not going away for good, but this week’s show should be an especially memorable jam with plenty of holiday cheer! Doors open for drinks 8PM, Showtime 9:30PM, Tickets $25

Friday Night at Largo: Blackout Edition

October 16, 2009

Only at a Jon Brion show could a power outage add to the fun and spontaneity of the evening.

Brion started the show off by playing some slow and quiet instrumental pieces on the piano. He then walked over to the drums, played them, sampled them, did the same with the piano, and then broke out the electric guitar. The result was an ardent version of the (sadly) unreleased song “Get Over Yourself.”

For his next song Brion picked up what looked like a part of a blow torch and started banging a rhythm on the top of the piano. He then looped this rhythm and added several more sounds on top of it to create a melody that quickly became “Same Thing.” Towards the end of the song all of the lights in the theater (and the whole block) went out. With the aid of audience cell phones and a flashlight Brion promptly picked up an acoustic guitar and started playing “Knock Yourself Out.” “It’s okay,” he said. “Ray Charles played like this his whole career.”

Whereas lesser musicians would have seemed flustered or even quit altogether, Brion seemed completely unfazed by the power outage. It was clear he was content to play with or without the aid of electricity. A few candles and flashlights were soon brought out on stage to help him play and find his way around the stage.

For more than an hour Brion took requests and played a mix of his own songs and covers. Highlights included performances on a pump organ, vibraphone, and an audience singalong of “When Doves Cry” on some kind of mini keytar.

Trying to keep things interesting, Brion decided to form a band and invited members of the audience who could play “Norwegian Wood” on acoustic guitar to come up on stage. One audience member shouted out he could play tambourine so Brion invited him up as well. As the band started and the audience sang along, the electricity in the theater resumed.

After “Norwegian Wood” and making sure the instruments were working properly again, Brion performed a heartfelt version of his (again, sadly) unreleased song “Love of My Life So Far” on acoustic guitar.

He ended the first part of the show with an epic performance of “Maybe I’m Amazed” with looped drums, piano, electric guitar, and other sounds from videos being projected on two screens near the back of the stage. These videos included an orchestra conduction and another of a saxophone player. He even sneaked in a few lines of “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” towards the end of the song. It’s unfortunate Brion does not get a lot of credit as a singer because he sounded great on this one. I’ve heard him sing as high as Prince and as low as Barry White. Not to mention the fact that he does hilarious (and spot-on) impressions of Tom Waits and Bruce Springsteen. After the song faded out Brion sweetly thanked the audience and said goodnight before leaving the stage.

The audience continued to applaud and shout for him to play an encore. Within a few minutes Brion returned to the stage. “Really?” he sheepishly asked. “I mean…really?” For an encore he invited the acoustic band members back on to the stage for “You Wont See Me.” When one guitar player asked what their band should be called, Brion joked, “See! This is why we’re breaking up tonight!”  During the song Brion twice called out for a tambourine solo, in which the tambourine played happily obliged. For the record, the guy was pretty good.

In the end, the evening was not only a testament of Brion’s talent, but how much his personality and wit adds to show as well. One of the comedic highlights during the blackout was, “…and well, I just…WHY AM I TALKING INTO THE MICROPHONE?” he shouted before knocking it over on to the ground.  He also said that his long sleeve dress shirt was a “painful fashion mistake” now that the air conditioning was out. Brion also continued to profess his love for Guinness by stating if the rest of the world ever went off the grid he would just move to Ireland. “They powered the factory before electricity,” he joked.

The blackout portion of the show could probably best be described as what it would be like to sit around a campfire and singalong with Jon Brion (if he brought a pump organ and vibraphone along). His sense of humor, creativity, and up-for-anything attitude turned what could have easily been a show of monotonous acoustic numbers into a fun and exciting night that was nothing short of magical. It was my seventh time seeing his show and would easily rank it as one on my favorites.  I know I’ll never forget it.

SETLIST:

Instrumental (piano)

Get Over Yourself (looped drums / piano, electric guitar)

Same Thing (piano, looped sounds)

Knock Yourself Out (acoustic guitar)

I’m Gonna Lock My Heart and Throw Away the Key (acoustic guitar)

Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies (piano)

Maple Leaf Rag (piano)

When Doves Cry [Prince]

Little Person (piano) (“I may need prompting on the lyrics. I never had to sing it.”)

Ruin My Day (guitar and harmonica)

Instrumental (vibraphone) (“This is a vibraphone. But tonight it’s just a phone.”)

Trouble (piano)

Creep [Radiohead] (piano)

Instrumental (pump organ)

I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times [The Beach Boys] (pump organ)

Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) [The Beatles]

Love of My Life So Far (acoustic guitar)

Strings That Tie to You (piano)

Maybe I’m Amazed [Paul McCartney] (looped drums / piano, electric guitar)

Encore:
You Won’t See Me [The Beatles]