Magnetic Fields Show

Last night I finally saw The Magnetic Fields live at Town Hall. The opener was an Australian folkie whose name I can't remember, (if I find out later I'll correct the omission). The band took the stage at 9 and played a wonderfully sedate show. For those that don't know, The Magnetic Fields play very quiet shows to seated audiences. It's an interesting and intimate way to see a band you love, as it feels almost as if you're watching them at a small school auditorium (especially for me, because I had a floor seat). The band sat from left to right, as they usually do. Shirley Simms sat on the far left with an autoharp in her lap. To her right, Claudia Gonson on keyboard and egg shaker, John Woo on acoustic guitar, Sam Davol on cello, and the man himself, Stephin Merritt on the far right, who despite being versatile at many instruments on his records, restricted himself to the ukulele for the whole night.

The first song they played was "Kiss Me Like You Mean It" from their magnum opus, 69 Love Songs. From there, the set went all over their catalog and beyond, delving into songs from Merritt's other outlets such as The 6ths ("You You You You You You"; "In The Hall Of Mirrors"), The Gothic Archies ("Shipwrecked"), a song from his soundtrack for the musical Coraline, and a track from his "solo" album, Showtunes ("The Little Hebrew Girl"). Despite having a set list that didn't quite build momentum the way rock performers would usually situate their shows, the performance was excellent, showcasing gorgeous renditions of songs that quite often sounded vastly different than their studio counterparts. A highlight of the night was when they played fan favorite, "The Luckiest Guy On The Lower East Side", apparently a request from someone the night before. Sung by Dudley Klute on 69 Love Songs, Merritt sang the song himself, including the long withstanding high note held at the end. Unfortunately, when Merritt hit this note, the audience was so pleased that they began to applaud (myself included). Merritt suffers from Hyperacusis which causes sound in his left ear to feedback when sound reaches a certain height (one of the reasons for the stripped down stage show). Usually after each song, Merritt will cover his left ear to prevent uncomfortable noise caused by applause. When the audience began clapping during this note, Merritt shook his head in a way indicating for us to stop. He then quickly leaned his head on his shoulder to block the sound, which did nothing to alter his performance - a true showman, even if he does say he hates playing live. Other highlights were "The Nun's Litany", "The Flowers She Sent And The Flowers She Said She Sent", "Fear Of Trains", "I'm Sorry I Love You" and "100,000 Fireflies".

Oh yeah and Paul Rudd was there. We had a brief conversation about a Scrabble tournament he played in the other day. Really nice guy.