JEFFREY LEWIS & LOS BOLTS | LIVE REVIEW
Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff, Tue 8 Dec
A cold Tuesday night sees the return of musician and comic book artist Jeffrey Lewis to Cardiff, fresh off the release of his new album Manhattan. A sense of anticipation can be felt tonight, especially since just days before it was announced that the show would be moved to a bigger room due to popular demand.
Kicking off proceedings are Cardiff’s own My Name Is Ian, their brand of self-deprecating indie rock goes over quite well with the crowd. An attempt to get the audience to sing along at one point seems like a pretty bold move to an audience largely unfamiliar with their music, but it mostly pays off. Drawing a bigger crowd and a better reaction are Threatmantics, as their bilingual rock sees frontman Heddwyn Davies shredding away on a viola, of all things.
After a short break, the trio of Jeffrey Lewis & Los Bolts take to the stage, Jeff kicking things off with a solo rendition of old favourite Back When I Was 4 followed by a couple of highlights from the new album. We then see the first of one of Jeff’s documentaries – in the form of narrated comics projected onto a screen. It’s not often you can say that a gig made you dance as well as watch a hand-drawn slideshow about American history, but with Jeffrey Lewis you get the feeling that anything goes, and tonight is no exception.
We get a song about Jeff’s love of British food, which gets huge cheers from the crowd as he declares his love of English breakfasts. A rendition of older hit The Last Time I Did Acid I Went Insane ends with Jeffrey going off a long, hilarious tangent as the band stops playing altogether while he rants about the horrible experience. A few tracks from Jeffrey’s acoustic Crass cover album get aired in all their original punk rock glory, and the laidback Water Leaking, Water Moving off his last record ends with an intense finale that practically explodes in volume compared to the album version.
If there were any low points, the new track Have A Baby sees its great lyrics lost amid the volume of the music. It’s a minor gripe, however, as the crowd dance around regardless, and it quickly leads into an excellent rendition of Slogans with its clever lyrics and melodies emerging intact. New tracks Sad Screaming Old Man and It Only Takes A Moment already seem like favourites, and during his solo encore Jeff plays a song so new he needs a volunteer from the audience to hold up a lyric sheet for him. He then closes on a comic about pirate-themed porn (yes, really) before a satisfied audience swarm the merchandise stand.
Jeff still hasn’t quite broken through into wider acceptance from the music press: neither NME or even Pitchfork have acknowledged the release of Manhattan at all. Perhaps his unusual approach, creaky voice and refusal to stick to one style (or band name) make him destined to remain a cult figure. But if the move to a bigger room and the crowd’s enthusiastic response are any indication, maybe it won’t be too long before he gets the recognition he deserves.
words MATT LEE