#9 And The Jens Lekman Experience

I'm not sure what's been more draining, the never ending test feeling or the snow that keeps coming back. Well, with that said, #9 happened on Monday, and simply nothing more will be said about that until I know for sure.

Since I happened to be in Portland for the day, I saw that Jens Lekman was playing at Berbati's Pan. For a mere $12, a chance to see some fine Swedish pop music is never a bad option. The opening bands were Marla Hansen and The Honeydrips.

I knew the least about Marla Hansen and her music seemed a bit too quiet for the club atmosphere. Her set featured mostly her strumming her viola and singing. I could relate because in my youth, like Marla, I also played the viola. Okay, that's about as far as relating as I can go on that one. The crowd wasn't very quiet and that took away from the music a bit. I know opening bands are opening bands, but why to people go to a concert to talk and not listen to the music? Alright, venting aside... She had an accompanying cellist on a few songs as well, which helped crank up the volume a bit. Overall, a good set.

The Honeydrips were up next. I had higher expectations for this portion of the show based on the very good album that came out last year. The Honeydrips are the solo project of Mikael Carlsson and this is where the problem started. Clearly the guy knows how to make a good studio album by himself, but his live performance was honestly one degree away from Britney Spears. He opened up his laptop, picked up a guitar and let the acoustical aspect of his album play via the laptop and stood perfectly still and added vocals (never once playing a single note on the guitar). It was almost karaoke-ish. The only redeeming factor was his one joke, "Can you hear my guitar?" Not good.

I was honestly a bit nervous about Jens Lekman, since I wasn't sure if he would be mostly solo or bringing a band along, but Jens delivered! Marla Hansen came back out, along with her cellist, plus a drummer and a bass player. This was going to be no acoustical show. It was a trade off between a orchestral section or a horn section and it paid off to go with the former. Jens mentioned that when he had previously played at Berbati's there were only about 20 people in attendance. Obviously the word gets out on how good his shows are because it was absolutely packed. His sense of humor and showmanship is something that can't be missed, and the music was great as well.

If you got to this point and know little about Jens Lekman, here are a few things to know. Better yet, listen to some songs, or better yet, see him the next time he is in town (the show is that good). I know I will.