Eels // UEA - 26.03.13
Tracksuits and Fleetwood Mac
Ah, Eels. This was the third time I had seen them live, and every time they are so different, from the quiet, string led gig at UEA sometime in the late 90s, to the bombastic rabble-rousing show of Latitude a couple of years back. I love that you never know what to expect.
Eels appear on stage tonight in black Adidas tracksuits, flat caps and shades. Rather Huey from the 90s or any pimp daddy you may care to mention. They look very cool. They play with a brashness, an intensity, a volume that makes the oestrogen in the room swoon en masse and the men brandish their fists in collaboration. They are sexy. They are incredibly confident. Lead singer E announces they are here to rock n roll, and the rather quiet Norwich crowd approves. He does mention throughout the gig how tame we are as an audience (I have heard this before) but we are all having a wicked time, just not perhaps as vocal as other cities they may have played in.
They start with Feeling 'Kinda Fuzzy' and go through several of the tracks from the latest album, as well as some old favourites tucked in there, although they definitely favour the louder, more rock ones; only a few slow ballads make it through, and this is kind of a shame as I think one of the beautiful things about this band is their ability to successfully wrench your heart out with a single line of verse accompanied by a cello, and next make you want to skateboard off the Alps whilst E plays electric guitar.
Their cover of 'Oh Well' by Fleetwood Mac, surely one of the best songs of all time ever and amen, leaves the audience dumbfounded and on a massive high; it's as good as or even better than the original. They also cover 'Itchycoo Park' which doesn't have quite the same impact. Their encore consists of a mash up between a couple of songs, as they said they had been told they could only have one more song - it really works switching between 'My Beloved Monster' and 'It's a Beautiful Day' - one chorus, then the other song's verse, then swapping back again - genius! In between the songs all through the gig, E banters with his bandmates and with the audience, and he is genuinely a hilarious man with a natural showman quality to his stage presence.
We are gathering our coats, and half or more of the audience has left, when Eels appear back on stage, and with the house lights on and the stagehands clearing up around then, they treat us to a couple more impromptu tracks. An absolute delightful thing to have happen, and not something I have ever seen happen before at a gig in all my years. Even if it were planned, which I expect it was, the experience of seeing them so close up, like they were playing in a school hall, was something really special. I imagine most of the audience was made up of fans, but those who hadn't seen Eels before I'm sure were converted tonight. We were all blown away. Thanks Eels.
