Jens Lekman at the Troubadour, November 10, 2007
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
