The Conan Jump

May 13th, 2004 · No Comments

sl_marquee.jpgSondre Lerche played a terrific set at the Paradise last night, supported by, “for the first time ever, comma, in the City of Boston,” his band the Faces Down. It was the fourth time I’ve seen him, and the first time it was anything more than an energetic acoustic set. The band brought a great dimension to his songs, and it was a pleasure to listen to their re-imaginings of the material from “Faces Down.” I don’t have the EP or his new full-length album (note the Saul Bass-influenced design), though last night’s performance was certainly a inviting introduction to them.

Not only were things a little more driven and a little more raucous, but they were a little twangier, too, with the addition of Kato (pronounced as though there were two Ts, not like this guy’s name) on pedal steel. sondre_left.jpgThe whole mix worked very well, with Lerche’s pseudo-Elvis swagger (possibly seen at left), about the last thing you’d expect from a 22 year-old Norwegian, and his band’s permanent, contagious happiness at being onstage. And Lerche is the kind of musician who doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with talking to the audience between each song, which is refreshing. Someone shouted out “Conan O’Brien!” in the middle of one break, and Lerche went into a weird little jump move on stage. He tried to explain that it was his sort of Conan impression, but telling the story proved more trouble than it was worth.

The strangest thing about the evening was that five rows of chairs were set up around the stage, filled with rapt concertgoers ready for Charlotte Martin’s opening set. After a dozen shows at the Paradise, I’d never seen chairs there; it’s a long way from Drew Bledsoe crushing an Everclear fan by diving off the stage there a few years ago. Paradise Guy was alive, which means he was there, and ready with binoculars in the fifth row, though I don’t think he needed them.

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Tags: Music