jens is worth 900 kroner

We have a new tradition of going to a restaurant called Yummy House before shows at Webster Hall since it's just right around the corner. It's cheap and indeed yummy. The veggie dumplings are green (love!) and they have many vegetarian options for us to choose from. There is also an Asian convenience store across the street with all sorts of fascinating items to purchase-like candies with Hello Kitty packaging. We didn't get anything but this place requires further investigation when we're not rushing off to a show.



Saturday night we went to see Jens Lekman with The Honeydrips at Webster Hall. Both are from the fabulous land of Sweden. We had not heard of The Honeydrips but we loved him, not surprising at all since he's Swedish. It's just one guy and his computer and he bobs his head very s l o w l y while he sings and it's mesmerizing to watch. He also stands with his arms at his side and his hands stuck out almost parallel to his body and closes his eyes and just sings-all the while he has a guitar strapped over the front of his body but he never plays it. We LOVED his set-not only was his music wonderful but he made us giggle too (he also has a bitchin tattoo at the crook of his arm and who doesn't love a great tattoo?).



Jens came out with his band and was so lovely (yeah we use that term a lot but it's the best word to describe things). He quieted all the cheering and respectfully asked for just one night that no one video the show as he thought it was going to be a special night and he just wanted everyone there to be a part of it and not share it with the rest of the world.



Jens has a great band of all girls plus one guy named Viktor, he does the digital sounds. Both Jens and Viktor had on slim trousers with white shoes. Viktor's trousers were a bit cropped and they kept creeping up through out the night showing off his white socks. He pulled it off in a way most guys could not. At one point he was dancing and did this kick to the music, it was timed out perfectly. It is moments like that, that make the show even better because they are getting into the music just as much as we are.


Jens is a very good storyteller. Our favorite story was before one of the last songs he played when he held up his instrument and explained it was from South Africa and it's always fun coming through US Customs with it. The customs agent is usually called John and there is also always another guy behind him named Bob and they are trying to figure out what it is and then Jens explains that it's an instrument. Well, "John" tells "Bob" to wikipedia it and then they also decide to wikipedia Jens when they find out he's a musician. He said (sarcastically) he loves that U.S. government workers use wikipedia as a tool in their job. Then he mentioned his friend in Chicago who monitors his wikipedia page to make sure it doesn't have any correct information on it. For the encore Jens would consider finishing but then do "one more song" and for the actual final song of the evening. He had the entire crowd singing with him to "Pocketful of Money ", it was truly a beautiful moment that is so rare-especially in such a large crowd. There was an energy of a sincere love for the music and everyone was just mesmerized (not to sound corny but that's how it was really).



Afterwards on the subway home we were laughing so much and being silly over a music magazine we were looking through. Then we had a great moment on the train that made us laugh even more. There was a couple next to us who were probably in their mid-fifties and Bob (yes-Bob again) was determined to get off at Jay Street and transfer to the F train. Bob chose to disregard the MANY announcements that the conductor had made at e v e r y stop. His wife called out to him "BOB! BOB! the F train isn't running!" The stop for the shuttle bus was next at the spooky Hoyt Schermerhorn stop. Bob ignored his wife and got off anyway. She freaked out and wouldn't get off the train and was yelling at him to get back on. He was just ignoring her and being very stubborn but was finally convinced that he did need to get back on and made it just before the doors closed where they continued their bickering until the next stop. This just struck us as the most hilarious thing and for the rest of the ride we were so energized and chattering away about the UK music scene and what we thought of certain bands etc. It's been awhile since we've been that energetic so late at night after a long day, but don't worry, as soon as we hit the door to our place we collapsed exhausted. This was a great start to a month of almost 2 gigs a week.