After a four day heatwave, the blanket lifted in time for an all-star lineup at the Hollywood Bowl Thursday night. With three acts in the lineup, each respectively rich with its own history and cultural impact, L.A.’s immense amphitheater was appropriately huge to house such talent.
At precisely 8 p.m., Daniel Johnston’s set began with a hiccup. Though he is only 53, he wears his struggles on a body that has certainly seen brighter days. A few in the audience laughed when he emerged with a tennisball-footed walker, pushing it with purpose towards the microphone, only to demand a chair the moment he reached it, leaving all his weight on the walker in the meantime, saying he’s been “falling for the past week.” When a stool was brought out, he repeated that he needed a chair. When a tall chair was brought out, he pointed out that it was one step closer, but what he really needed was just a regular chair. When that finally came, he sat down, asked if anyone was still there, and then launched a set of pure garage rock, much of which appeared on 2009’s Is and Always Was, but he also threw in a couple classics, playing the poignant “Walking the Cow,” and finishing with the teary “True Love Will Find You in the End.” Though his voice often crackles and strains to reach the high notes, his hand quivering with age, his boyish charisma and pure love of rock music and of love itself still comes through. The only shame was that his set occupied a slot when concert-goers were inconsiderate enough to be arriving in the middle of it.
Less than five minutes after Johnston’s set, the Bowl’s rotating stage spun around to reveal the Breeders. Starting with the dreamy “Off You,” Kim Deal’s breathy voice settled over the amphitheater like a consolatory vapor, lulling the audience before breaking into the infectious opening riff of “Saints.” Mixing their set with 90s classics and yet-to-be-recorded new songs, seeing Kim Deal and company in action is a valuable reminder of the caliber of talent and songwriting she contributed as a member of the Pixies, who also happen to be playing the Hollywood Bowl in less than two weeks. It was also a reminder of how much airplay the singles off the commercially successful Last Splash got. Earworms like “Cannonball” and “Divine Hammer” sound as fresh as they did twenty years ago, and the band appeared to have a great time playing them with tightly measured enthusiasm.
Although the Hollywood Bowl typically uses its large screens and cameras to bring the artists to the furthest seats, Neutral Milk Hotel made the curious request not to use them, which is puzzling but perhaps not so surprising. In fact, it’s almost fitting. The magical creature that is Jeff Mangum, an elusive Kubrickian enigma for a full decade following the success of 1998’s In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, is perhaps not meant to be seen so much as heard. For years, for most fans he was a disembodied but supernaturally powerful and evocative voice. Now, having first emerged playing solo a couple years ago and then reuniting with the band for an ever-extending world tour for the past several months, Mangum’s visceral bedroom nightmares and growly folk-punk are fully fit for live consumption by the hungry cult fanbase that made Aeroplane the sixth best-selling vinyl album of 2008. You’ll just have to get in the front rows if you really need to see his facial expression.
NMH’s setlist drew from its small catalog, a necessarily obvious selection of songs. Other than the unfortunate absence of “Oh Comely,” it is most likely that every fan heard the song they wanted to hear. And the band could do no wrong, staying true to the stumbling and quavering tonality of the recordings, complete with blaring brass, pounding punk rhythms, arcane analog organ, accordion and three, yes three, saws for animated multi-instrumentalist Julian Koster to choose from throughout the set. Opening solo with “I Will Bury You In Time,” Mangum was then joined by the other three original members and some extras, though the lineup was tweaked throughout the set, often returning to Mangum playing solo, like on “Two-Headed Boy” and later with “Two-Headed Boy, Part 2,” which closed the set after announcing that the final three songs would be the very last. “None of that going back and coming back out bullshit,” Mangum said. After gesturing his deepest gratitude with tented fingers, Mangum left the stage, only to go back on his word and return with the band to play “Engine” for the encore. After seeing what energy this band has preserved, the only hope is that it continues. They don’t even need new material. They just need to keep playing.
Set List:
I Will Bury You in Time
Holland, 1945
The King of Carrot Flowers, Part One
The King of Carrot Flowers, Parts Two & Three
Naomi
Ferris Wheel on Fire
Two-Headed Boy
The Fool
In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
A Baby for Pree / Glow Into You
Gardenhead / Leave Me Alone
Song Against Sex
Ruby Bulbs
Snow Song, Part One
Little Birds
Ghost
[untitled]
Two-Headed Boy, Part Two
Encore:
Engine
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