Jens Lekman at the Troubadour, November 10, 2007
By Sung - Monday November 12th 2007 |
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If you haven’t been introduced to the brilliance of Jens Lekman or know about his country of origin (hint: check out the “Dancing Queen”-esque piano flourishes on “Friday Night at the Drive-In Bingo”) you need to get new friends. Make that a new b/g-friend, because Jens’ music is all about love and the hysterical journey searching for that perfect love. Jens delighted the crowd all night with his humor and charm. For the long distance love ode “A Postcard to Nina,” Jens added a hilarious spoken word intro that provided background detail on the subject of the song and her groupie father. This was one night no one left early and there wasn’t anyone giving up their mezzanine perch. The crowd stayed mesmerized throughout the encore and even persuaded Jens to come out for a second.
In a round robin tourney of this year’s best male singer songwriters: Andrew Bird, Patrick Wolf, and Rufus Wainwright – Jens Lekman comes out on top. I realize art is not a competition, but love is.
Setlist:
Into Eternity
The Opposite of Hallelujah
A Postcard to Nina
It Was a Strange Time in My Life
Black Cab
Your Arms Around Me
You Are the Light
The Cold Swedish Winter
Sipping on the Sweet Nectar
Maple Leaves
Shirin
(encore)
A Sweet Summer’s Night on Hammer Hill
Friday Night at the Drive-In Bingo
(2nd encore)
You Can Call Me Al (Paul Simon cover)
Pocketful of Money
i wanted to go so badly but i had work. that’s an excellent set list. i imagine friday night at the drive-in bingo was pure bliss.
Yup, Friday Night at the Drive-in Bingo was amazing. He told the crowd that it was the ‘silliest’ song he’d ever written. It went really well together with Hammer Hill.
that was the best show i’ve been to in a while. jens is so dreamy.
I’m getting tired of all these great pictures without any credit or info on them. Come on! You have to be getting queries of what lensy and cammy and so on. Spill it on a FAQ page or something.
Hi, VR. Photos (except for the obvious press shots) are usually taken by the writer. If they’re not taken by the writer the actual photographer is usually credited. You’re only the second person to ask me what equipment I use so here goes the answer to your IFAQ – my camera: Nikon D80, my lenses: 17-50mm 2.8,35mm 2.0, 50mm 1.4, 85mm 1.8, 70-200mm 2.8, and sometimes I borrow a 300mm 2.8 (a dreamy lens). A fast lens with an aperture of f/2.8 to f/1.2 should get you good results. Canon cameras are generally more flexible for indoor concert photography, plus they have more lens options. Don’t know if you’re in the market but if you’re looking for a bargain I recommend the Canon XT or Canon 20D. If money is no object I’d recommend any of the higher end Canons, the 5D and 1D(s), or next year’s new Nikons, the D300 and D3.
Thanks Sung. Great pics. Are you shooting at super high ISO like 3200? The web pics don’t look grainy at all. When you use the 1.4 the depth of field is pretty narrow, do you manual focus or trust the auto? Sorry to geek out so much on the nuts and bolts but the shots are gorgeous, I wanna know.
He also came out after most people left with just his acoustic guitar and played two more songs.
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