A recent picture of the band
Eels
02 Brixton Academy, London
September 1st 2010
Rating: 
Let me begin by saying that I am a fan of Eels. I’m aware that what you are about to read might seem contradictory.
A few years ago my flatmate made me quite jealous because he’d been to see Eels and reported that frontman, E, provided his own support by way of giving a lecture on quantum physics. I was therefore very excited to see what might be in store at last night’s gig.
The answer was an upsetting ventriloquy act involving a screeching monkey and some badly delivered puns. Keith Harris and Orville it was not.
To follow, we were subjected to some sub-PJ Harvey wailing from Alice Gold who had come dressed as her grandmother. (I hate the music of PJ Harvey.) Despite that, and judging by the applause and t-shirt vending activities, she did have her fans.
During all of this I was drinking cider as my own form of compensation and having a good shufty at what the crowd looked like.
There was quite a range of people – everything from older gents wearing their most exciting shirt to young fans buying merch with their mothers. Here was confirmation that Eels have managed a mini-Green Day style resurgence, and that made me look forward to the main act even more.
The set began with E playing a few songs alone. He looked resplendent with a magnificent beard, shades, bandana, white shirt and trousers and a baby blue Danelectro guitar. His raw, honey-tinged voice sounded as good as ever and when the rest if the band joined him (impressive beards a prerequisite) I was predicting at least a 4-star gig.
What followed was an unexpectedly heavy half-half hour of blues – technically brilliant but not, I expect, what a lot of people had come for. In fact the highlight of that first 45 minutes was a blistering cover of the Lovin’ Spoonful’s Summer in the City. (If you took my Wireless Snoop Dogg review you’ll know my feelings on that sort of thing.)
The first song that sounded like classic, melodic Eels was In My Dreams from last year’s Hombre Lobo album. Unfortunately that was followed by a misguidedly pimped version of My Beloved Monster. Later, what should have been a spine-tingling version of That Look You Give That Guy (which has perhaps the best lyrics of any song released last year) was let down by the boomy engineering that had been appropriate for the previous songs, but not for this one.
Up to that point the crowd had seemed relatively motionless, save a few hands in the air near the front. It wasn’t because they were playing badly but more because they just weren’t being Eelsy enough. Where were the Novocaines and Susans that people had no doubt paid good money to see? Maybe they were to come…
E spoke little to the audience but a moment of brilliance came up when he introduced the band, ending with the drummer taking control with some awesome stickwork and lead vocals.
This was all well and good, but we still hadn’t heard any of their big ones. There is an argument for bands playing whatever they want, with the audience happy just to see their idols perform. But why are crowd pleasers are called crowd pleasers? Answers below.
Also, the more I watched E, the more he seemed like a diva, strutting about and teasing the fringes of sanity. This was compounded by three –THREE – encores which only served to massage the band’s egos and cause many uninterested patrons to wander off well before the house lights came up.
Afterwards, I asked a teenage boy next to me how many stars he would give the performance. He replied, “5. It was really good and made me laugh a few times”. I have no idea what he meant but I do know that I now like Eels slightly less than when I entered the building.
“As a man who likes a band to play their hits because they were chosen to be released as singles due to their superiority, I stand by my review.”
Singles are not chosen for their superiority. They are chosen for the commercial nature. Any artist will tell you this. Generally the record lable will release singles that are radio friendly. This is completely different to the quality of the record
“Another Brick in the Wall pt.2 is an excellent song.”
I completely agree. I am a massive Pink Floyd fan, but my point is that very rarely is a fan’s favourite saong, “the radio one that everyone knows.” Most hardcore Floyd fans will have long and endless debates about Barrat v Waters v Gilmore on the song writing front, and will generally have favourite songs that the wider public have never even heard of. Eels of very similar in that respect.
CB
Fair do’s Bart – that’s big of you to apologise – on the subject of age I was really pleased that down right at the front where I was there were loads of teenagers, which I haven’t seen before at an Eels gig – good to see that Eels are still attracting a new audience. Always have mixed feelings about that – I’d love it if they were more popular, but I love being able to be 3 people back at Brixton rather than having to sit in the upper tier at the O2…
Look, if you’ve never seen the Eels you’d want their “greatest hits”, I can see that. When I saw Snoop at the Apollo I was really pleased that basically he only played his hits because I’d never seen him, but I wouldn’t keep going time after time to see a band that did that.. Bart, can I recommend two CD’s – “Electro-Shock Blues show” (live in 98) and “Oh what a beautiful morning” (2000 shows, contains “Susan’s House” live!! That will give you a flavour of how different he can be.
As a man who likes a band to play their hits because they were chosen to be released as singles due to their superiority, I stand by my review.
Another Brick in the Wall pt.2 is an excellent song.
Bill, sorry about the shirt comment. In hindsight that was callous and unnecessary.
I agree with Bill with the comments he made, you sound like a Glasto fan who expects the artist to perform all their greatest hits in one set!
Having seen clips of the V Festival I knew what to expect on Wednesday night and was not disappointed one bit by their performance. Souljacker Pt 1, Mr E’s Beautiful Blues and Hombre Lobo and the cover version of Summer In The City was performed at the highest quality.
I do agree the crowd did appear cold, I myself was down at the front and thought everyone around me looked like statues.
Now back to your review “Must try harder”!
I generally agree with the 2 comments above (what’s wrong with another brick though…I’m a big Floyd fan and love that song…). Nothing wrong with the encores – Oh So Lovely, the last song, is rapidly becoming my favourite Eels song. I think the Eels are an act you do need to see 2 or 3 times (on different tours) to get the full range. My first time was the Tour of Duty in 2003. I was slightly disappointed in the lack of electronics and the garage rock nature of that show, although I’ve subsequently seen them with strings, without strings (white stripe style guitar and drum), acoustic and this week at Brixton. In retrospect, I can really appreciate the individuality of each show. That maybe too much to ask of the average fan who’ll only go once though.
Bart – I’m a 57 year old fan, presumably at the gig in my “most exciting” shirt (news for you Bart, someday you are going to be 57 too…probably… and then maybe you will be too old to make such casually nasty and uncalled for comments), but I have not allowed my thoughts on your prejudices to colour MY comments… Having been to many Eels gigs before, that was one of the best – and they have all been amazing – and different… If you haven’t been before to see the great E, the very best thing about him live is that he NEVER repeats himself in terms of his band’s musical style – so you never know before the gig how the songs are going to go -which I love – I’ve got the CDs, I don’t need to hear them played live…and the second best thing is that he does NOT do “greatest hits” sets… (otherwise I would have seen the same gig 6 times), he’s playing for long-time Eels fans, not for a Glasto crowd… So he has released 3 albums in the last year or so and surprise, surprise, he played most of the tracks from them… What did anyone expect??? And I’ve only seen him play “Susan’s house” once – and though I love the track it hasn’t really bothered me… I came away absolutely thrilled by the set – though I totally agree the audience was a bit cold… And really, come on, E is SO not a diva – you need to do your research here – he is morbidly withdrawn and asocial – that’s how he is, not what he’s pretending to be, you know – isn’t that obvious from his musical work and his autobiography??? But keep up the good work, always good to read reviews…
No self respecting Eels fan has ever shown up to one of their gigs expecting “Novacaines and Susans.” It isn’t the mid 90′s and as someone who has seen them about 7 times and owns all their albums, Novacaine for the Soul and Susan’s House wouldn’t even rank in my top 50 of their songs. It’s like someone saying they are a massive Pink Floyd fan and then claiming their favourite song is Another Brick in the Wall part 2.
Bart,
It wasn’t unexpectedly heavy. E was due to play a heavy, like it or not gig. It’s what he does by challenging people. My Beloved Monster was fantastic, just like Souljacker Pt1, Dog Faced Boy, Eels Beautiful Blues,I Like Birds, etc……
Having said that, he had three years to plan this and the encores were disapointing. Especially, with the arrangement. E wasn’t on top form, but he will be back and I will be there to see what happens next.
The ventriloquist was rubbish, but entertaining (for all the wrong reasons)
2.5/5 this time.