Jens Lekman At Webster Hall


  fuck new york 
  Originally uploaded by stentorsrevenge.

Last night The Gotham Gal and I met some friends at Webster Hall and saw Jens Lekman put on a great show. As my friend Steve said, "Jens is this generation’s Jonathan Richman", which is very true. And part of why I love Jens so much.

But Jens is way more than a Jonathan clone. He has a wonderful voice and uses lots of samples which Jojo never did. He has created his own sound and it’s wonderful.

I got turned onto Jens by the songkick team last summer and since then I have listened to everything he’s put out. Jens was certainly the musical best discovery of 2007 for me.

Last night was the first time I’ve seen Jens live. He’s very funny. A Jens show is part stand up comedy, part Jens solo, and part full band with strings and horns.

This photo comes from the show last night but I didn’t take it. Instead of saying the typical "we love NYC" thing you get from the acts on tour, he raised his arm and said "fuck new york, connecticut is better". Which got some good laughs.

The highlight of the night and my favorite Jens song is Postcard To Nina. He doesn’t really play the song, he tells it as a joke, with great timing. I don’t have a video from last night, but here’s Jens playing it in Melbourne (his new home) in late 2006. Please put up with the first 30 seconds of tuning, I promise its worth it.

#My Music

Comments (Archived):

    1. fredwilson

      Nope. Thanks for the link

  2. josef

    we got there about 3 songs in, you passed us to take a call. wondering if he did the ‘opposite of hallelujah’ as we didn’t hear it during the rest of the show.

    1. fredwilson

      I think he started with it. We got there late – about 2mins before my son called me to tell me he was home for the night

  3. Raj

    Saw him in Boston on Friday night. Great show indeed.Wish I could have heard the words to Maples Leaves better. I think that’s his best song.

  4. Mike Champion

    I saw the show in Boston on Friday night and thought his story behind “Postcard to Nina” was really funny, as well as a great song. He’s very entertaining.

  5. torontoforjens

    great show, and yeah, his humour and wit are quite notable live – i can think of no one in indypop (or anypop) who combines wry observational humour and storytelling quite like Jens. Josef, he and the band did a rollicking Opposite of Hallelujah, second tune in, seguing into it with the first verse and chorus from Strange Time in My Life (He started with I am Leaving You Because I don’t Love you). Hope that gets you up to date! Jens is here (in Toronto) on Tuesday night – we met him on the plane coming back, a very charming fellow – so it’s back to the well for me!

    1. fredwilson

      I would love to hang with jensFred