Jeffrey Lewis got things rolling, alternating between full band performances featuring a few members from other bands on instruments like horn, violin, and drums and brother and member of official Jeffrey Lewis band, "the Junkyard," Jack, on bass.
They played several songs as a band, including two awesome songs about the collapse of the Soviet Union and the French Revolution that included slide-show accompaniment of artwork related to the lyrics drawn by Jeffrey Lewis himself. The highlight of their set was the solo, Jeffrey Lewis performance of a new song called "Cult Boyfriend."
A few months ago, I was very lucky to be at the right open mic at the right time (Lach's Anti-Hoot at one of the other rooms at Webster Hall a few months ago during summer) and Jeffrey Lewis casually dropped in and played the open mic. The song he chose to play that night was a very early version of "Cult Boyfriend" in which he comically forgot some of the lyrics and laughed his way through a few mistakes. Still, the song was instant, classic Lewis. I was really happy to see the "final" version of the song at this show last night. Here's a video I recorded of the song at the show, including the last bit of his inter-song banter about his fans not fighting over his dropped guitar picks and instead simply returning them to him.
Jeffrey Lewis - "Cult Boyfriend"
After Lewis, Crystal Stilts took to the stage. They played a decent, but (in today's climate of dime-a-dozen lo-fi, 60s pop meets Joy Division revivalists) ultimately generic and forgettable set. Still, they showed me that they're deserving of the hype surrounding them.
Finally, at about 10:45 and a little past my usual, weeknight bedtime, The Vaselines took the stage and did not disappoint. They sounded crisp and true to their recordings, though significantly more polished than the days of Dum-Dum.
The Vaselines - "Jesus Doesn't Want Me For A Sunbeam"
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