Beautiful Freak Tour 1997

LOS ANGELES, CA - THE LARGO - may 30, 1997

E as a guest during Jon Brion's friday night at The Largo:
Friday nights at the Largo Club are usually very special. Most of the times Jon Brion plays and he has got lots of guests playing with him. Sometimes E is also jamming along at The Largo. The following report could originally be found on Twomp.com, but's it's currently off line.

Friday, May 30th In the audience: Aimee Mann, Michael Penn, E, Morris Tepper, and Ethan Johns. In the offing: Robyn Hitchcock, supposedly coming in to play later in the evening. In the news: Jeff Buckley is missing, presumed dead. Jon announces that he is in a wacky mood. He obliges two requests simultaneously by combining Bohemian Rhapsody and a disco tune-but just for a few bars, thank goodness. Aimee Mann requests Gilbert O'Sullivan, and we get Alone Again, Naturally. Jon's singing is uncharacteristically off key, but he recovers and delivers a tongue-in-cheek You Can Still Ruin My Day, co-written with Jeff MacGregor.

Then E wanders on-stage. Strangely enough, his hair is its natural color. Song requests are solicited. Danger Girl, unable to bear the tension any longer, screams out Jeff Buckley's name. Jon and E turn on her. Squinting into the darkness, they quip about the "inconsiderate audience member" trying to "bum everyone out." Suffice it to say, Danger Girl becomes very annoyed at this point. She cried when Mr. Buckley was announced missing. Actually, she just had something in her eyes, Anyway, the shocking and unexpected fact is that there is a complete lack of musical tribute to Mr. Buckley occurring on the Largo stage that night (or any othernight we might add). The words "F*** Y**" do spring to Danger Girl's lips, but she heroically (heroine-ally?) suppresses them. Jon Brion's seeming lack of respect is ironic, considering that he may be the only worthy musical successor to Buckley in sight. His talent is as huge, and his taste not dissimilar, and he too, is fond of the artistic residency . . . hey wait! they both have the same initials! Eerie, dude.

Anyway, while Danger Girl and her friends try in vain to flag down their waitress, the heedless, mocking and irreverent E & Jon do an eels-greatest-hits-type set. A PO'd Danger Girl has to admit that they make an inspired pair, sharing a sense of absurdity and chaos, tempered by the tight playing that comes only from long association. A stunning and unexpected rendition of Sweet Home Alabama is delivered in E's husky, hollow and vulnerable voice. Brion fires off a frighteningly southern-sounding guitar solo, only to cap it with a killer stepout on vibes.

Finally, Robyn Hitchcock bounces onstage, sporting a fetching polka-dot shirt. The ever-growing mass of jammin' musicians rips on a ludicrously unexpected, but impressive, version of Dead Flowers. After a break, during which E is seen cuddling with a member of Red 5, RH comes back to do a set of originals sprinkled with late British Invasion covers like Waterloo Sunset (which seems to be a favorite at Largo). The absolute highlight of the evening -- a mesmerizing version of Strawberry Fields Forever featuring Morris Tepper (!), Robyn, Jon, E, Ethan Johns, and a chamberlain doing an eerily accurate stand-in for a moog.

[written by Danger Girl, taken from: http://www.twomp.com/pop/dgirl/dgirlnew.html]