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Upon arrival at the venue, my friend and I stood in line waiting to get in when I noticed a sign hanging outside the venue that said the opening act was "E of the EELS." I immediately began wondering if this meant that E was truly going to be flying solo tonight. Once inside the venue, showtime arrived and out stepped E and only E.
I was thrilled to see E. The only time I had ever seen EELS was at the same venue opening for Luscious Jackson. Always an opener, never the main act!! E appeared on the stage and it was immediately obvious that he was aggitated with the noisy standing room only crowd. His first words were, "Ladies and gentlemen, silence please there is an artist on the stage. I played this room years ago and have regretted coming back here ever since. Let's see if it's any better this time around." Obviously, he didn't win any votes with the crowd who had no idea who he was. I didn't care what he said, I was just thrilled to see and hear him, but was disappointed because I knew he did not want to play to a drunken club audience as opposed to a seated theatre audience.
He played 10 songs(30 minutes) switching between 2 acoustic guitars and his signature acoustic piano.
The last song he said he wrote Thursday and that it is about his girlfriend. Before Novocaine he told everyone that it was almost over, "you can breath in a minute." I yelled to him, "I was listening E." Since no one else was. He cracked a smile. He seemed very discourages with the entire setup. Also, there was a black t-shirt with a monkey on it for sale and a sheet of stickers.
Fiona came out and the first thing she said was that she was thrilled to have E open for her and that she loves the EELS and hopes that everyone enjoyed them. Ironically, everyone screamed. She explained that it was only E there tonight because record companies are so fucked up. So obviously, Dreamworks wasn't helping out with touring arrangements is the way I took it. I loved seeing E. I only wish he could say the same about the night.
[review sent in by Sam]