Unconventional '08 :: Whoever this Obama kid is, he sure incites some excellent music

Last night in Denver, the Unconventional '08 shindig took over a madhouse-packed Manifest Hope Gallery amidst the brick warehouses on Larimer Street.

Earlier in the evening a free concert featured Silversun Pickups, Nada Surf, DJ Z-Trip, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and Cold War Kids. Starting around 10pm, a late-night supergroup performance brought together Ben Gibbard, Jenny Lewis, Johnathan Rice, Zooey Deschanel, and Matthew Caws to perform for a slew of eclectic luminaries that included various congresspeople, Moby, the mayors of San Francisco and Seattle, Fergie's boyfriend Josh Duhamel, Jin from LOST -- oh, and me. How did this happen?

As I approached from blocks away, the crowd was spilling in the street as they waited to get in through the half-lowered garage door entrance. A converted police car flashed multimedia exhibits onto the faded warehouse wall, with music pulsing loud enough to be heard at the Convention Center. Pandemonium!

Inside the thousand-degree gallery, I did some general browsing of the political artwork covering the walls, and then the requisite gawking and people-watching (most eclectic crowd ever -- mixing political pinstripes with the indie kids and watching them try to dance side-by-side). This non-Dem was admittedly a little creeped out by a few of the near-deistic portrayals of Obama in various painted settings; a friend and I were talking about how we felt like we'd entered his shrine. But overall it was a cool expression of passion and commitment by the artists who contributed, with a few ace lighthearted inclusions (Stephen Colbert! Slaying evil!).

Comedienne Sarah Silverman started things off with her hilariously deadpan ruminations on the convention and the election, and she was dipped into an enthusiastic two-armed welcome (totally almost like this) by San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom (SCU Broncos represent!). Newsom then introduced Seattle's mayor Greg Nickels, and after many words and rousing rhetoric, the five musicians finally climbed onto the small stage. Throughout the 70-minute show each artist took turns on lead, with various duets, group singalongs and covers. It was lighthearted and felt like a rare living-room collaboration.

See all the glory in pictures from last night.

UNCONVENTIONAL '08 KINDA SOUNDED LIKE...

This Is Not A Test (live 8/2/08, Newport Folk) - Zooey Deschanel & M. Ward
Zooey was completely charming, and performed this song with her guitar. Halfway through she stopped abruptly and laughed at a small mistake she made, saying it was the first time she'd ever played guitar in public since she usually rocks the piano.

Love Hurts - Gram Parsons & Emmylou Harris
Johnathan Rice and Jenny Lewis sang this '70s staple, and in a move of complete awesomeness, they dedicated it to Obama and Hillary.

Little Boxes (Malvina Reynolds cover) - Jenny Lewis & Johnathan Rice
They didn't sing this song. But they did lots of duets together, all lovey and gazing into each other's indie-alt-country-couple eyes, and sounding good.

See These Bones (live on MOKB Sirius) - Nada Surf
I loved every note and word that spilled from Matthew Caws last night (recall my fondness). I was unabashed dork fangirl, coincidentally ending up right at Matthew's feet for the set, and I didn't even bother to check my singalong enthusiasm. He kept eying me in bemusement as I sang "the lights of this city are more or less blinking..." with possibly more enthusiasm than he did.

Weightless (live on Leno) - Nada Surf
You know those gorgeous Beach Boys harmonies at the end of this song? Picture the full gallery crowd and those other four voices on stage all swelling together behind Caws' lead vocals. Jenny Lewis admirably played band leader, cupping her hand around her ear and waving her arms in encouragement. Nada Surf drummer Ira Elliott stood off to the right (in front of that massive Obama/Lincoln meld) and kept time with fancy claps for the whole song. You can take the drummer off the stage ...

Silver Lining (Rilo Kiley cover, live at Hiro Ballroom 6/30/08) - Ben Gibbard
Ben didn't play this one either. But he could have. I think Jenny would have been down with that.

Cath (live at BBC6) - Ben Gibbard
This song appeared on last night's setlist but was substituted with "Sound of Settling," which was great by me because we all got to "Ba baaa! Ba baaa!" heartily instead.

Military Madness (live 10-22-06, Bridge School) - Death Cab for Cutie, Gillian Welch, Neil Young
The five musicians closed with this Graham Nash cover about military madness and solitary sadness. Ben Gibbard led on the piano, and despite one false ending (another chorus? should we stop? let's do both) it was a stirring closer. This live mp3 is one I saw at the Bridge School Benefit in CA a few years ago with a slightly different lineup.

ZIP: UNCONVENTIONAL '08

Oh, and ...

Dude, I'm practically one of the Oceanic 6.

She & Him are very . . . nice

One of my most anticipated shows at Noise Pop this weekend in San Francisco was the M. Ward collaboration with velvet-voiced actress Zooey Deschanel called She & Him. I could hardly overstate the level of love I have for M. Ward's richly layered music, and Zooey has this fantastic retro-throwback vibe with a sweet coyness to her inflection. The samples I've heard from two of them have been promising.

And, let's face it -- much like the time I saw Russell Crowe's band at the Fillmore (that's Thirty Odd Foot of Grunts for those of you keeping track at home), everyone likes to go see a real live attractive movie star play with their band. It's why folks spend $40 to see Dogstar.

After three opening acts at the Great American Music Hall Sunday night, Matt and Zooey took the stage for their hour-long set. I gotta hand it to Zooey, she is a charming and capable performer who reminded my friend of June Carter Cash a bit, I suppose in her vocal swing. I'd never seen M Ward before but he clearly enjoys those sounds he coaxes from his vintage guitars, and sings his vocal parts with the gusto and expressions of an 80-year-old bluesman. It's fun to see them interact with each other, ending their main set on the piano bench playing the ivories side by side.

But somehow the visceral kick that I like to feel in a live show was missing last night. The overwhelming reaction I had when I walked out the doors was that it was nice, absolutely, and charming. It felt like a very engaging county fair act. They have a lot of potential as a duo, as their voices meld so well and offer each other a counterbalance. I've got the album at the very top of the stack of advances to take a listen to -- I am anticipating that I'll catch some layers of interest and depth in the studio album that I must have missed in the live setting.

The bloggers were out in force for this show, and as we all travel home, Aquarium Drunkard posted up a quick thought saying that the show was fantastico. The line around the block made this one of the hardest shows of the fest to get into, but I left feeling like I'd missed something in what was supposed to be the kind of glorious winner in the cool-kid olympics show of the year. It was fun. And nice.

Why Do You Let Me Stay Here - She & Him

Volume One is out on Merge Records March 18. Thanks to the dude with the iPhone in front of me who shared his clandestine pics.

M. Ward + Zooey Deschanel collaboration is near :: Four new songs from KCRW!

I'd heard last summer that my #1 artist from 2006 and the honey voiced starlet from Elf (among other projects) were collaborating on a full-length album, but it slipped from my radar for a bit there. Now look, we only have 2 more months to wait! M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel will be collaborating under the name She & Him with an album called Volume One (they are wildly creative in both namings) due out March 2008 on Merge Records.

Recently the duo stopped by the KCRW Open Road program to play several songs together. M. Ward has that humid, scratchy, atmospheric sound that balances out the velvety old-fashioned (sexy) croon of the delighful Ms. Deschanel. This is one highly anticipated album for me in 2008; I am hoping for a higher ratio of original compositions to covers, but I'll take whatever they deal. Listen:

M. WARD AND ZOOEY DESCHANEL
KCRW OPEN ROAD, JAN 2008
Change Is Hard
You Really Got A Hold On Me
Magic Trick
Sentimental Heart


ZIP UP M AND ZOOEY



I'm heading out the door now to see this guy tonight. I am hoping there will be some digeridooing. I'll keep you posted.