Jon Brion
March 9th,2007
Steppenwolf in Chicago
The above photo was taken earlier this summer at Intonation Music Festival. You can find more pictures from this set here
What a joy it is to see Jon Brion…not only does he have a great personality but his extremely flexible and versatile way of creating music and seeing all of the trends and chord progressions in different songs to create the most unfathonable medleys is pretty mind blowing. He can take any request (and did so right from the beginning) playing everything from a fantastic cover of Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice it’s Alright” and blending it with Nirvana’s “Lithium” chorus lyrics to a soft piano concerto version of AC/DC’s “Back in Black.” I also can’t forget to mention his fantastic Prince medley that began with his rendition of “Pop Life.” Another highlight was a cover he did back in the summer, which he said he was so mad he didn’t write himself: The Kinks song “Waterloo Sunset.”
This was an even better performance than his at Intonation Music Festival not only because of the greater length (he even did an extensive encore after receive a standing ovation from the audience) but because he played many of his own solo material off of Meaningless and also because he himself was playing the drums, piano, keyboard, and guitars by playing one piece at a time and looping it so that he could sing over the top. Because of this, you had a real sense how he creates songs for all of the great soundtracks he’s done for example and just overall how the songwriting process works for him.
He also acted really happy to be in Chicago. He told the audience how Chicago was one of the only real places left in America that wasn’t a Home Depot (I wondered sadly if he realized there were two Home Depots located withing a couple of miles from the theater.) He talked about feeling a warmth in the city and wanting to come back and he said he had wanted for the ticket price to be cheaper so to make up for it actually gave away copies of Meaningless. I ask, what musician these days does that???
March 15th, 2007 at 6:53 pm
I have to say this is already in my 10 most memorable shows for ‘07. Great write-up, Kirstie!
March 16th, 2007 at 6:52 pm
As you probably have already guessed, I’m really, REALLY jealous that you’ve gotten to see Jon Brion play AGAIN!.
March 16th, 2007 at 6:55 pm
I know I know…if I ever get to talk to him personally, I will ask him if he can come to Toronto. Hey, what I heard happened at the incredibly small show the night after made me mad too. I had not known about the show until it was too late (it’s like a 100 person venue and his show at Steppenwolf theater sold out in advance) but apparently people were trying to stump him and he actually played all these old Eno tunes including Here Come the Warm Jets.
March 16th, 2007 at 6:55 pm
Oh and Jose nice seeing you again as always-sorry we chose different Dean/Britta shows to go to. I’m staying at home tonight photo editing and watching Science of Sleep. (Bernal sigh!)