Rilo Kiley @ Riviera Theatre
Rilo Kiley @ The Riviera Theater
9/15/2007
Overall: B-
Let me first make my bias clear... I saw Rilo Kiley 4 years ago with M. Ward and Statistics, and it remains in my top 5 live performances. They were touring in support of The Execution of All Things, so naturally they played a majority of that album along with a handful of songs from Take-offs and Landings and even two songs from the now-forgotten Initial Friends EP. Jenny & Blake both addressed the crowd quite often and rather modestly, and the crowd was even able to lure them out for a second encore.
Tonight, however, the feeling is different. The stage is bigger. The lights are brighter. And Jenny Lewis has just marched onto the stage wearing a golden robe. She will not say a single word a-melodically for the rest of the evening. Blake handles all the stage-banter, speaking modestly as ever after every couple of songs, but Jenny does not address the crowd. Nor does she make eye contact.
I have to give Rilo Kiley credit for their song selection. Considering they were touring in support of their newest album Under The Blacklight, they played a well-rounded set from their career, with four songs from both More Adventurous and Execution, as well as one song from Take-Offs. They even played one song from Jenny and Blake's side projects, "There Before the Grace of God" by Jenny Lewis and "Greetings in Brail" by The Elected.
Rilo Kiley finished out their pre-encore set with Execution's "Spectacular Views." However, something magical happened where the song would normally end... It didn't end. In fact, it went on for at least another five minutes, with Blake, Duke, and Jason just jamming. It was quite a sight to behold... A spectacular view! Where was Jenny during this? Well, she'd walked off stage when there was nothing left to sing.
Their heads are growing, or at least Jenny's is. But musically it was all there. The songs were spot on and well-chosen. Although Blake did all of the stage-banter, it was still amusing and humble. And the addition of the two "covers" and their unexpected jam session was their cake's icing. Kudos.