Jenny Lewis/Conor Oberst Concert—9/25/2008

My love for Jenny Lewis took me to the storied Cain’s Ballroom Thursday night to catch her opening set for Conor Oberst and The Mystic Valley Band, where she was bringing her distinctive brand of 70’s-influenced alt-country, gospel, and rock ‘n roll to Tulsa. At thirty bucks, the show was the type of bargain only Cain’s can pull in the Sooner state. My foursome consisted of Brother-of-Priest, his girlfriend, occasional DLP commenter cmh, and myself. Rolling in at 7:30 for an 8:00 start, the ballroom was set without chairs, and we scoped out a good spot ten feet from the stage.

Jenny is touring behind just released Acid Tongue (B), the follow-up to her much-lauded solo debut Rabbit Fur Coat. Dressed in her now ubiquitous trailer park garb, she and her five-person band launched into Oedipal gospel rocker Jack Killed Mom off the new CD promptly at 8:00. They followed that with the country radio-ready (almost) Carpetbaggers, which Lewis prefaced as a warning about all women. The backing band was impressive and tight, led by recording artist and Jenny boyfriend Jonathan Rice on acoustic guitar and vocals. Judging from his occasional attempt to speak with the audience, he’s got other gifts besides intelligence to offer Ms. Lewis. The balance of the band consisted of a lead guitarist, a base guitarist, a steel guitarist, and a drummer. For her part, Jenny provided keys and another guitar in addition to her pitch-perfect voice.

The balance of the ten-song set was as follows: Pretty Bird, The Next Messiah, See Fernando, Acid Tongue, and Godspeed, all off the new CD, while adding Rise Up with Fists and You Are What You Love of her debut and a cover of Love Hurts, sung as a duet with Mr. Rice. While Jenny and the Boys can do more than justice to the rockers in the set, it’s the autobiographical heartbreakers Acid Tongue and You Are What You Love where Lewis’s voice really shines. The former was the best of this night, with Lewis adding an almost uncomfortable, stunning fragility and honesty to the frank confession.

They finished the set with the rocking standout of the new album, See Fernando, before exiting the stage amid thunderous applause and more than a half dozen marriage proposals.

Conor Oberst and The Mystic Valley Band took the stage some twenty-five minutes later to an ecstatic crowd with Sausilito followed by Get Well Cards, both of his new album. After fifteen years of recording as Bright Eyes, Oberst has lately taken to releasing music under his own name. I don’t know Oberst well enough to give a legitimate review of his performance, but I’ve been told by those that know that he didn’t perform any Bright Eyes material here. This, of course, included nothing of I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning, an album that I love and had been hoping to hear something from. Going until 11:40, he certainly gave ticket-holders their money’s worth even if he chose to ignore the impressive back catalogue of folk, rock, and alt. country that brought most of them out.

Overall, a great show from two of the distinctive voices in Americana.