So the second question had to be was the eels show worth having to make a trip to Detroit to see James. Again, the answer is yes. The show at Milwaukee’s gorgeous Pabst Theater wasn’t quite the equal of the outrageous spectacle put on at the Annex several years ago, but it was still a sight to behold. The band took the stage looking like the Blues Brothers Band (yes that is obviously a good thing), every one of them in suits and a tie. When lead singer Mark Oliver Everett, know singularly as E, took the stage, instead of Jake and Elwood we got a man who looked like he might well have escaped from a mental institution. Yep, that’s E. He was dressed in a white coverall, large dark sunglasses covered his eyes, an oversized bandana covered his head extending down over the top of the glasses, and a gigantic beard covered his face. In fact “beard” must have been in the dress code for the group because every single member sported one (also a good thing), though none as outrageous as their leader’s.
The set list drew heavily from the last three releases, Hombre Lobo, End Times and the recent Tomorrow Morning. The latter’s “My Baby Loves Me” provided for what may have been the most rocking moment of the night during an earned encore. The song lists all the people who don’t like him, “The neighbors don't like my flowers/The waiter don't like my tip/The librarian shushes me/Travel agent canceled my trip,” before ending with an emphatic “my baby loves me!” Perhaps the only equal was “Dog Faced Boy” from Souljacker. Its chant of “Ma won’t shave me, Jesus won’t save me,” was too angry to sound ridiculous. Another highlight was “Birds” from Daisies of the Galaxy. Instead of the sweet near-lullaby of the record, he sounded almost angry about how much he likes… birds. The new stuff is good, but I missed hearing more from the earlier records. I’m not talking about their one hit “Novocain for the Soul,” I don’t think anyone expects them to play that. But I miss songs like “Last Stop This Town” from Electroshock Blues or any of the pretty songs from Blinking Lights and Other Revelations.
As usual E’s antics were half the show. He switched guitars between every song, his guitar tech dutifully taking the just-played guitar and replacing it with one of two look-alike white or a third black Danelectro after every song. Once however there wasn’t a new guitar, just a maraca, on which he proceeded to play air guitar with ridiculous enthusiasm. I’ve had food things thrown at me from stage before, the Barenaked Ladies threw doughnuts, Wilco the remainder of a deli tray, but this was the first time I might have actually eaten what I caught. Near the end of the show, E pulled handfuls of freezer pops from a Lunchmate cooler and tossed them into the crowd in a multi-colored hail. Being close to the stage most went over our head, but I saw several people sucking on the sugary snacks during the next song. The Pabst staff had to hope that most were caught and eaten rather than melted and stepped on later.
It wouldn’t be a show at the Pabst without a $3 PBR tall boy and one or more crappy opening bands. One I look forward to and the other I dread as inevitable. Guess which is which? Tonight’s openers were a ventriloquist and singer/songwriter Jesca Hoop. Both were terrible. Granted, I seldom like female singers, but I don’t have anything against ventriloquists in general. Though I may now.
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