Anyone who loves Neil Finn, Crowded House, Split Enz, is most likely addicted to "power pop". Hence, I'd HIGHLY recommend, for those in the LA area (unless you can catch Jon on tour) a trip to Largo to catch Jon Brion.
Jon Brion's official web site
He's been involved with Jellyfish, Aimee Mann, "E", and was in the Grays. He's another musical genius (of course not like Neil - but then again who is? ) He's eccentric, to say the least!

We had an INCREDIBLE time last night and plan on seeing him again soon! Neil has joined him on stage, as well as Aimee Man, and other various artists. He's there every Friday night and is a HUGE TREAT!

FOUR THUMBS UP FROM THE GOLDMANS!

shalom,
Kim

Hi Kim..

Please tell me Neil wasn't there last night! I almost went to Largo on a hunch..

He wasn't. That's exactly why we went, but found Jon so great, it didn't matter (yes, I WOULD have preferred Neil to be there, but...got to discover the talent and genius of Jon)

We didn't know what to expect and found it to be unbelievably amazing. He's quite a character, and unlike anyone else.

We''re going to go again, I think on August 9th, to introduce our sons to his genius, while our youngest is on a sleepover.

The show ends REALLY late. In fact, we don't even know how late it ended last night. He ended his set at about 1:15 AM and said he was having another short set after a break. I wanted to stay, but my husband is a morning person and had already gone way beyond his capabilities, so I had to go (boo hoo).

Check him out. It's more of an experience than just a concert. (Of course Neil is as well, but in different ways.)

If you want a table, you have to make a dinner reservation. It's actually pretty good, but expect to spend about $14 each just for the entree. Otherwise, you can stand in line and sit at the bar, in the back. There's a $10 cover charge. But the place is so small, if you're not visually disabled as myself, it probably would be a great seat.

It's really dark in there. Everyone is quite nice there, as well. They let me sit in the front so I could see (which I found to be totally necessary for Jon's show) and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I shuffled my way through the dark to the ladies' room in the back, and one of the guys working there actually took me by the hand and led me back to my table afterward.

At one point in the set Jon began to take requests and people were requesting Queen, Jellyfish, Elvis Costello, and quite a few others. One person in the back yelled out Split Enz at the same time as I requested Neil Finn. He responded by saying Neil's stuff was too perfect for him to touch and extolled his (Neil's) musical genius. The crowd agreed enthusiastically.

shalom,
Kim

Kim's described the Jon Brion/Largo experience very well! I became acquainted with Jon through listening to his work with Aimee Mann... and then I started to notice that he was all over other albums I had... Fiona Apple, Grant-Lee Phillips, Elliott Smith... to name a few. I figured out that he had a self-released album, Meaningless , available online, so I picked it up and then went backwards to check out his stuff in The Grays. WOW! So, when the opportunity to catch his show in L.A. arose in May 2001 (sister graduating from USC), I jumped on it. I dragged my parents and my sister along, to fill out the table I'd reserved for four (just in case), and was blown away. I guess I had high expectations going in, having heard about his legendary improvisations and the likely appearance of random celebrities. I wasn't disappointed, and was thrilled when Ms. Apple came on stage to do a few standards (and do her (presumably unintentional) impression of Rainman with Tourette's... I hear that comes standard in her performances). But by far the star of the show was Jon. From a Madonna medley, to his classic sing-a-long rendition of "Bohemian Rhapsody" to his on-the-spot composition of a rock-opera about leprosy, to a from-the-bottom-up construction of My Bloody Valentine's "Only Shallow" (he builds entire songs before your eyes using some sort of sampler/loops...I'm obviously not a techie)... to his own excellent material, he was a delight to watch and hear. The interaction between Jon and Largo's owner/manager/whatever he is, Mark Flannagan is an added bonus. I'm hoping to catch him again in the event I have make the long drive from New Orleans to Seattle (presumably when I move). If I had the money, I'd go visit him more often, but alas, I am but a graduate student.

His appearance at the Seattle Showbox Neil Finn show was a complete surprise to me, and I do believe I squealed with delight when Neil introduced him. I don't think many others knew who he was... I was hoping that perhaps his appearance at the 2001 Bumbershoot Festival would have brought him some attention. Oh well... I wish that he'd perhaps done a little more singing, rather than just doing his little rag-time ditty while Neil was tuning, but I'm thinking that maybe he was just happy to be supporting Neil on keyboards and guitar and staying out of the spotlight. It was so much fun to watch the both of them on the same stage!

One more note... I found a download of what I think is a Neil /Jon collaboration, presumably from Largo. It's one of Jon's favorite covers, "Making Plans For Nigel" (XTC). Pretty durned funny... anybody else heard this? Just Neil and Jon farting around on stage...

Thanks for bringing Jon Brion up in discussion, Kim!

ARRRGH! We sat with a frenz named Sean last night at Lisa's show, who was there at Jon's show and told us what happened after we left, since my husband couldn't stay up late enough for Jon's 2nd set. Fiona Apple came out and played! Unfortunately, the police came by and had them wrap it up early, as there was a bomb threat down the street. Funny thing though, Canter's, the deli, was full and stayed open across the street.

But we were aware of the bomb threat, as the parking attendent told us when we were leaving. Nice thing to have down the street, but since it's a Jewish neighborhood, I guess it's par for the course, sadly.

shalom,
Kim

8/9/02 - Saw Jon Brion again at Largo! The guy is just amazing! Anyone in the L.A. area should really try and catch his show. You never know who's going to show up along with him, and even if no one does, he's great on his own. I can't wait till Neil pops in, when he's in town. I will make sure I am there!

But in the meantime, this is a wonderful place to see some great musicians. I'm looking forward to when Bic Runga is around again. Hopefully Goldenboy will get to play there as well. Would be great! I bet if Betchadupa comes to town they'll drop in. I'd be surprised if they didn't, and Tim as well.

On Friday night, we went to see Jon and a band called "Nickel Creek" played. They were fantastic! We had never head of them. These are fresh faced kids (19, 20 and 24) who are incredibly talented. They play a lot of blue grass type music, but say their record company told them to say the music they play is "underground" so the teens will want to check them out. It gave me hope that there is good music out there. Of course I'm biassed in that I don't think anyone will match up to the talents of Neil Finn, but hey I'm willing to enjoy other music as well.

Neil's genius stands alone. But in the meantime, those of us in LA can enjoy many Kiwi sounds in this little pub, as well as other great American acts. And of course look forward to one day encountering Neil!

I'll come back at a later date and edit this post and add some pics we took at the show. It's very dark in there, but my husband figured how to set up the camera so we didn't have to use a flash.

shalom to all you music lovers in Finn-land,
Kim

Speaking of Jon Brion AND Largo, if you like jazz, check out Brad Mehldau's new one, Largo which is produced by none other than Jon Brion! Dear Prudence on piano... BEAUTIFUL!

WB Jazz homepage

What a segue, hunh...!

Just got back from seeing Jon Brion AGAIN! GREAT SHOW!

Lisa Germano opened for him. Boy, I am really becoming a fan of hers. I went up to say "hi" and she actually remembered me. HOW? I was a bit shocked! But anyway, she sang two songs, one of which was a cover and the other her Bag Lady song.

Then Jon came out and WOW'd us, as usual. Suddenly, around midnight, there was a special surprise guest... Jack Black popped in to do, what we first thought he had said was an "Ozzie" Medley. Then Jon corrected him and said, no it was an "Aussie" Medley. One of the songs was "Fuel" by Midnight Oil. Boy was he intense and of course FUNNY!

After Jack left, Jon continued to WOW us. He finally finished about 12:50am, took a short break and invited Grant Lee Phillips out! WOW! The guy is so funny and talented. One of the requests was "White Wedding" which by audience request was done with a bosonova beat, in the style of Willie Nelson! WHAT A TOTAL CRACK UP! Then Jon ended the show with a few requests including "What Do You Get With A Drunken Sailor".

I'm telling you LA folks, Largo is the best show in town! I'd recommend it, just as long as you don't take my seat.

BTW Sean (Serenity Now) joined us. Nice to have another Frenz to enjoy the music with!

I know I haven't even done it for the last show yet, but will have pictures that I'll edit and post here later.

shalom,
Kim