Brendan Benson is a band, so Brendan Benson says. And that band is made up of himself and his merrymen. I learned recently that in the studio, Benson does everything himself and he also produces for other bands (Blanche, the Greenhornes)which is wow. I also heard something about himself and Jack White making an album together next year. Very wow indeed, !!! I was at the Hurricane Festival in June and managed to be up early enough to catch his performance, he was on first that day. The band had quite a short slot and sometimes it just seemed like something was missing from the songs. The gorgeous piano on "Cold Hands, Warm Heart" was totally lost in the festival setting, it just seemed to take something away from the music. So i was really excited when I found he was coming to play in Berlin, I knew it was going to be a great show.
Benson came onstage and greeted the crowd with "yeh! this is a proper fucking berlin gig!" He seemed pretty happy to be playing in the city. The show was on at the Mudd Club, which i only managed to find by following some people I thought were going to the same show as me. At the end of an alley and past some scaffolding, down some rickety stairs and through a door with a cracked pane of glass leads you into the Mudd Club. Its really small with a bar running along the left hand side wall, and a seating area on the other side. Kitty Wu were onstage when I arrived, they were really great and I wish I knew more about them!
Normally I like to watch from the side, but somehow on this night I ended up in the very front row for the main attraction. Being so close was slightly unnerving, but also quite thrilling. I was overcome with dodgy impulses like taking pictures of Benson's trainers...And unfortunately I sneezed at a rather quiet moment at the end of a song, whereupon Benson looked down and said "Bless you...uh, gezundheit." It seemed like the set list was the best combination of songs ever. "good to me", "cold hands, warm heart", "folk singer", "gold into straw", "spit it out", "alternative to love", "between us", "im easy"...Then something strange happened. During the encore a man came onstage from the side and got the bass player's attention, they huddled in what looked like a serious conversation. The police had arrived! Benson & his Merrymen were making too much noise. They looked so sad. Brendan said, "we have to quit". Everyone roared, "NOOO!". Then someone down the back shouted, "PLAY ACOUSTIC!", so that is what they did. The band wasn't sure what to play though, so they turned to the crowd for inspiration. Someone shouted "YOURE QUIET!" and so we got a strange sort of acoustic version of it. Kind of ironical.
I would love to see them playing again, its a pure joy to watch them perform.
Tonight: The Arctic Monkeys and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.
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