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Eels
The Roxy - West Hollywood, CA
Filter Grade: 92%
by Bryan Chenault | 01.01.2007

I’ve never thought of Eels main man E (Mark Oliver Everett to his mama) as being a particularly confident figure in music. A discography doused in suicidal serenades (“But waking up is harder / When you wanna die”) and utter despair (“My life is shit and piss”; both lyrics from the miserable moodsetter “Elizabeth on the Bathroom Floor”) lead me to believe that E exists in some type of Elliott Smith tortured soul world. When it comes to recording his intensely personal songs, I see him shutting himself in the studio for weeks on end and composing songs in only the most secluded of settings, whether it be out of shyness, insecurity or just a painfully private personality.

Having never seen Eels play live before, I expected E to have a similar stage presence, that of a brooder, a sulker, an unwitting entertainer at best. But here on his home turf at a small, almost sold out venue on the Sunset Strip, he projected every bit the part of the quietly content and commanding master of his craft. The mature musician that strolled on stage in very business-like Eric Clapton attire (think olive-colored suit, full but well-manicured beard and designer specs) seemed a far cry from the quirky young songwriter that some (ok, I was one of them) too quickly dubbed a “poor man’s Beck” some 10 years ago with the hit “Novocaine for the Soul” off the debut Beautiful Freak. Now here in 2005, while Beck is still hamming it up into his 30s, E has been keeping it real (real depressing, that is) since his sophomore, but hardly sophomoric, second release Electro-shock Blues. While he’s shown his proficiency with both rock (Souljacker) and rootsy pop (Shootenanny) over the years, and could have easily followed either of those roads to both acclaim and popularity, he’s chosen to follow his dark muse wherever it’s lead him, fans and critics be damned.

The epic double-disc Blinking Lights and Other Revelations that he’s currently touring behind is no different. With it being his most grandiose work yet, the Eels’ current "With Strings" incarnation features E, stand-up bass man “Big Al," multi-instrumentalist "The Chet" and a quite lovely all-female string quartet to bring the songs to life. It only took a few songs in the show to realize that not only his most recent glut of songs, but most all of his music, is best performed with such an arrangement. Just minutes into his set, E had somehow transformed the always rowdy Roxy into the warmest, most intimate venue in all of Los Angeles. With an attentive crowd hanging on his every word and every move, it was surprising and gratifying to see that rather than showing any kind of nerves due to the newness of the material or the fishbowl feel of the crowd, E was clearly in his element. Alternating from piano bench to guitar stool in between sweet and sour ballads, all the while E was casually puffing away on a giant cigar like some kind of indie folk Castro (which appears to be his new thing, as he performed with one in hand on two recent late night talk show performances). And why not? Cigars are for celebrations. Hell, maybe for once, E has some happiness in his life.

After frontloading the first part of the show mostly with material from Blinking Lights, no doubt warming up for his upcoming tour of Europe, the few restless fans that were calling for him to plug in and rock were indulged with the dirty riff of “Dog Faced Boy” that filled the Roxy up with the sounds it’s used to. But it was quickly back to hushed highlights like “I Like Birds,” “Railroad Man,” the beautiful “I’m Going to Stop Pretending That I Didn’t Break Your Heart” and the set’s final song, “Souljacker,” reinforcing to his audience that the days of rock-n-roll E might very well be over with this last release.

After a few moments off stage, E bounced up the side stage steps for what turned out to be the first of two encores, and was…dare I say, brimming with pride? Bordering on cocky? Who is this new E? As he reached his spot at center stage, he raised his arms above his head to take in all the hometown adulation, and muttered, “We were going to catch a cab, but we heard this thunderous applause” before cranking out a boot-stomping of the uptempo new song “Hey Man (Now You’re Really Livin).” The lyric like “Have you ever made love to a beautiful girl / Made you feel like it’s not such a bad world” could be the reason for the controlled smile on his face and stogie in hand. After shouting down a heckler with “you had one too many beers eight beers ago,” E delighted the crowd with “3 Speed” before sauntering off to another ovation.

Out came E for a second encore, this time almost downright giddy, thanking the crowd for willfully playing the cat/mouse game of encores and sheepishly telling the crowd “You’re really pushing it. It’s way past my bedtime.” E closed the 90-minute show with the closer from Blinking Lights second disc, the simple, twangy “Things The Grandchildren Should Know,” whose final lyrics “If I had to do it all over again / Well, it’s something I’d like to do” served as yet another example that E has shed whatever demons plagued him in the past and has moved to a peaceful place inside himself.

Maybe it's like E sings in the new single “Old Shit / New shit,” stamping his trademark pessimism on what looks to be a positive point his life and career with the lyric “I’m tired of the old shit / Let the new shit begin.”