E and his boys had not been on stage for four years due to the confinement, in between two new albums have appeared, and it shows that the band was crazy to return to the habitat where the old sad boy of indie can be seen happier, but it is that whoever knows this band will know that there are two very different Mark Oliver Everett, one capable of making the skin crawl on records as traumatic and beautiful as “Electro-Shock Blues” o “Blinking Lights And Other Reservations” and another the prankster dressed as the leader of a Big Band from the 30s who takes the stage to have a good time with his friends in the greatest glory of rock & roll.
And it is that, with the passage of time, we have seen how this type became more classic and schematic, something that could already be guessed by listening to the songs that were playing before they appeared on stage, versions of “Good Vibrations”, “I’m Only Sleeping” o “My Girl”this is Beach Boys, Beatles and Motown, add a couple of Zeppelian riffs, to the Small Faces and the more bluesy rock streaks of Tom Waits and you have an accurate approximation of how they sound Eels live.
At first they start at full speed with five consecutive whiplashes, the only three songs they are going to play from their latest album to date, “Extreme Witchcraft”, “Steam Engine”a cavernous R&B with which E boasts a scratchy voice, “Amateur Hour”where his love for the British Invasion of the 60s is very noticeable, particularly the Kinks and the Small Faces, precisely from the latter a magnificent version of the “Watcha Gonna Do About It”in which the singer manages to get out more than graceful of getting into the boots of Steve Marriott (something that he obviously likes, and that is that 10 years and two days ago, in the same place, La Riviera Madrid, another version of the british band, on that occasion “Itchycoo Park”). They also do a tornado mode version (the tour is called ‘Lockdown Hurricane’) of the “Me And The Boys” of some NRBQ that recently have also been on our stages, and finish off the starting rocker with “Good Night on Earth”with a great blues rock riff.
After the first stop at “Earth To Dora”the 2020 album from which the most songs will sound tonight, with the catchy “Anything For Boo”the glances to the past begin with the exciting “Jeannie’s Diary” from another of his great albums, “Daisies Of The Galaxy”y “3 Speed” the best of them all, “Electro-Shock Blues”. The calmest moments triumph again with the chant “I Need Some Sleep”, from the soundtrack of “Shreck 2”e “It’s a Motherfucker”. It didn’t sound bad either “The Deconstruction”, the only song they have played from the album of the same name, nor the powerful “Dog Faced Boy” which has preceded a version of the “You Really Got Me” of the Kinks to which they have shod the lyrics of “My Beloved Monster”.
Of course, the comic number that has preceded the version of the “Drummer Man” by Nancy Sinatra sounds too rehearsed, although if they then sound in a row “Novacane For The Soul” y “I Like Birds” one forgives them everything, even if they don’t touch anything “Blinking Lights”. But it is that the band, in which The Chet will have to be highlighted once again, knows how to transform the songs to their liking, the arrangements and multiple instruments of the recordings are synthesized, with only the four musicians on stage, and the riffs of The guitar sounds sharper, the drums stronger, and E’s voice takes on more emotion and urgency.
For the first batch of encores they leave the pretty “Friendly Ghost” and one of the best songs of his career, “Last Stop: This Town”which transforms from a baroque pop song with hip hop drums into a ballad type “Pale Blue Eyes” from the Velvet Underground.
For the end there is a memory for the girl who brings them the lights with “Earth To Dora”the song that gave title to “Wonderful, Glorious” and a whole declaration of intent, the “God Gave Rock & Roll To You” from Argent. So are the Eels live, a well-oiled and shiny rock & roll machine, run by some guys who still believe in the saving power of this music. And some of that has to be true because in 1998 few would have given a penny because 25 years later Mark Oliver Everett would be on stage, let alone singing things like “God gave you rock and roll, he gave you rock and roll, he put it in everyone’s soul, he saved rock and roll for everyone”.
