I heart JB

If anybody ever has the chance to see Jon Brion live, GO. He has a permanent residence at Largo in L.A. (and occasionally plays NYC) but due to a bout with carpal tunnel, he's been sidelined for the last 3 months. Last night was his celebratory return. My friend Scott, who's admitted to having a man-crush on Jon Brion, was back in town for a visit and waited in line for over 3 hours just to get bar seats. In my opinion, it was well worth it, mostly because I joined him right before we were let into the venue and didn't have to endure getting sunburned.

His performances are a modern day one-man-band spectacle. He'll take a song and construct it from the ground up, laying down the tracks for each instrument until everything comes together as a comprehensive whole. For example, he'll hop on the drums, lay down the part, record it, loop it, then move onto the next instrument. This continues until all the different parts are accounted for. To see it done in person is fucking amazing. The most disgusting thing is that he's equally talented on all the instruments - piano, guitar, drums. Sonofabitch.

Last night, he opened up the show with a stand-up routine from Largo regular, Greg Proops. You may remember him from ABC's "Who's Line Is It Anyway?" He was the guy with glasses who wasn't Drew Carey. Being Jewish and having been in Germany for the recent World Cup, the majority of his jokes revolved around World War II, the Holocaust, and his general dislike of Germans. He also really hated the state of Connecticut, Alabama, and Indiana (his homestate). His act was ok - I was more intrigued by his half valley girl/half stoned off my ass on benadryl drawl.

When Jon Brion hit the stage, he played his usual collection of familiar songs mixed in with personal jam sessions. Notably, he covered The Mamas & the Papas, "The End" by The Beatles, and "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" by Pink Floyd. He also brought Benmont Tench (the former keyboardist for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers) onto the stage to play some duets. Awesome.

One trademark of his performances is that at every show, people in the audience have an opportunity to call out song requests. Jon Brion will weed through all the requests and eventually decide on a song (or songs) to play. Last night however, he was more focused on playing music and getting back into the groove of things. Read: he didn't take very many requests. Too bad, I was ready to yell out "Bone Thugs!" if given the chance.

Seriously, go see Jon Brion perform if you can. You won't be disappointed.