This show was very much long-awaited for me, as I haven't seen The Bird and the Bee live in about a year and a half and completely couldn't get enough of Matt Ward and Zooey Deschanel at Coachella. The Hollywood Bowl has also become a summer essential and a tradition for me and my best friend (Adele last summer, Feist the year before), as nothing sounds better to me than sitting outside in usually fantastic weather with a picnic basket full of food listening to incredible music. Needless to say, the disclaimer I'm giving will probably lead you to conclude that I have nothing but good things to say about this show. The concert, I came to realize, was KCRW's amalgamation of noteworthy male-female music duos; in my opinion, they would not have chosen a better trifecta to capture the essence of what they were trying to display.
The Bird and the Bee were the first act, something I don't really understand because I see them as more of a middle or upper-tier group than an opening act by now, but I was so happy that Inara and Greg got to play at the Bowl (clearly I'm biased, but I think this duo is one of the most fantastic duos of the decade, both as musicians and as people). To my great surprise they played many old favorites ("Man", "Polite Dance Song", and "My Love" to name a few), as well as songs from their newest Hall & Oates cover album entitled Interpreting The Masters: Vol. 1 (A Tribute to Daryl Hall and John Oates) such as "Maneater" and "Heard it on the Radio". Greg Kurstin is an incredible musician so of course their songs are wonderfully produced and always sound fantastic live, Inara looked absolutely amazing for having just had a child in her all-sequenced silver dress and her voice sounded perfect, and I am always musically smitten by the 4 back-up singers/musicians with their synchronized dance moves and precious xylophones. Not that anything different would be expected, but I had an incredible time seeing them play again.
After The Bird and the Bee was She & Him, a duo who I probably don't have to say much about as they have become extremely well-known within the past few years, but Zooey and Matt do nothing but completely mesmerize me. I have a lot of respect for the fact that they have really stuck with the 60's style that they know and love most, and have not changed their identity since first starting out; Zooey's sultry and endearing voice combined with Matt's incredibly complex and blues-infused guitar riffs give them a universally appealing sound with unmatched sophistication. They too performed old and new songs from both "volumes", such as the newest hit "In The Sun" (mentioned earlier on in the year on this blog), old loves like "Black Hole" and "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here", and their incredible covers of "Roll Over Beethoven" and "I Put a Spell on You", which shows off Zooey's vocal skills in a big way. If you are not the proud owner of both Volume One and Volume Two, I am actually asking you to buy them as soon as possible; it's impossible for me to recommend one over the other or specific songs I love most, so you're just going to have to trust me.
The last group was The Swell Season, a group I admittedly have never listened to and thought about skipping out on early... something I now am so incredibly grateful I did not do. I have never seen the movie Once, but my god do Glen Hansard and Markéta Inglová have a beautiful sound and a way with harmonization. I am not an authority on their music in the least, but after what I've heard I would highly recommend the songs "Two Tongues" and "The Rain"; they are, in my mind, the best examples of the duo's full ability to entice their audience with their simple yet absolutely breathtaking love lullabies.
Long post, I know...but I had the best time and these three groups deserve the recognition. Here are some of my photos from the show:
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