There is an excruciatingly long wait for the Eels after the lights go down. The entire spoken word track “A Good Day to Be You” off of MC Honkey’s album I Am The Messiah plays. It’s followed by the theme to 2001: A Space Odyssey performed by what can only be described as a grammar school orchestra that needs to practice. Now that I’m transported back to my band geek days, first chair trumpet, thank you very much, E strides out onto the dimly lit stage. Dressed in a pink tuxedo suit jacket and a chest length beard, Everett breaks into kung fu moves as the rest of the band sets up. He grabs the microphone stand and kicks a bare foot into the air; eat your heart out David Lee Roth.
The Eels released two albums since their last tour: 2020’s Earth to Dora and 2022’s Extreme Witchcraft. Earth to Dora is the lighter of the two. It was a signature Eels album that felt immediately familiar, which hit just right during the pandemic. Extreme Witchcraft saw E collaborate again with John Parish. It’s a louder Eels and really got me excited for a new tour. The Lockdown Hurricane tour was announced early 2021, and like all things pandemic, rescheduled. Waiting two years for a tour to finally come around is a new experience. It was also split up with the band hitting Europe first, then a month off before finally reaching the states.
Austin Antoine strode out to a still filing in audience. An infectious smile lit up his face on the darkened stage and he immediately engaged with the crowd. He explained that he preferred an interactive audience and expected nothing less from this one. Antoine is a performance artist that blends music and poetry with wit and jokes. He free styles after asking concert goers about their lives. It was a short set full of charm and charisma.
The Eels lineup is the same as the past few years: Big Al on bass, The Chet with a lone guitar, E, and Little Joe on drums. Denim and dickies have been swapped out for tuxedos and bowties–literally, a fancy pants Eels. The set is heavy out of the gate from the new albums: “Steam Engine” and “Amateur Hour,” a break of a couple of covers, then “Good Night on Earth,” all from Extreme Witchcraft. The Extreme Witchcraft tracks are tossed into the beginning of the set and rushed through to get out of the way. It feels unbalanced and the set lacks a flow the band is normally great at establishing. Sprinkled throughout are six tracks from Earth to Dora: “Anything for Boo,” “The Gentle Souls,” “Are You Who You Say You Are,” “Are We All Right Again,” “Baby Let’s Make it Real,” “Earth to Dora.” It’s time for “I Need Some Sleep” to be retired from the live show. “Friendly Ghost” and, the stand out for me of the night, “The Deconstruction” were welcome additions as well as the reworking of “My Beloved Monster.” “Peach Blossom” added some solid rock that I wish there was more of.
There was a running gag of the band reaching their daily fitness goals throughout the night, with their faces projected behind the band as their goals were met. The Chet took over lead vocals during a cover of Nancy Sinatra’s “Drummer Man” while Little Joe got the longest drum solo I’ve seen in about a decade. Big Al is due for his moment in the spotlight next tour. Everett jokingly referred to New York as the Big Banana multiple times.
There were two encores that were well put together despite the pauses when the band left the stage. I was especially impressed with “Wonderful Glorious.” In the past, the band has attempted to sing the chord change acapella, which sounded about as good as that youth orchestra back at the beginning of the show. This time, the instrumentation continued throughout the transition and it was extremely well done. The final song of the night is a cover of Argent’s “God Gave Rock and Roll To You,” with Big Al, The Chet and Little Joe singing the vocals so E can address the crowd, and the opener Austin Antoine returns for a few more lines of free styling. E strutted to each side of the stage for applause and even reached over the pit to high five a few members of the audience.
I’m slightly overly critical of the set list choices because it’s been a long four years since I’ve seen the Eels live and I personally wanted a louder Eels show. The band sounded incredible with no missteps the entire night. That’s not a given and speaks to the musicianship of the band. It’s what you get on the final leg of a 43 show tour: a well oiled machine. My last review of the Eels opened and closed with the same prescient line: Life is short. See your favorite bands as many times as you can. Given that was written in 2019 and what followed, it feels more true now than when I originally wrote it. This might not have been the full on rocking Eels that I personally wanted, but I will take any version of the Eels any day of the week. Even a Tuesday night in New York near the end of the tour.
