Thursday, December 17, 2009

Grant-Lee Phillips at Lestats, 12.13.2009

About a month ago Jeff and I were having dinner and he was filling me in on upcoming shows. We were comparing notes on who'll be touring in December and the early part of the new year to make sure we keep the good stuff on the radar, when he told me that Grant-Lee Phillips was playing at LeStat's. I believe I gave him an Elaine from Seinfeld response, "Get out!". We kinda stressed about the show, too...LeStat's doesn't have any presale tickets and it's so intimate a venue, I didn't know what to expect.

The night of the show, we planned on grabbing dinner at Blind Lady and getting in line, but when we parked, noticed that despite the website saying 9pm, the marquee now had Gregory Page opening at 8. A kink in our plans, so we ate at Tao, spending the entire meal craning our necks in hopes the line wouldn't get too crazy so we could still get a good view. In the end, we somehow scored a couple seats in the second row and were able to enjoy the incredible show. I saw Grant-Lee Buffalo years ago, and have seen Grant-Lee Phillips a few times over the years, but NEVER like this, in a quiet room with about 75 people. He played for 75 minutes and covered the full spectrum of his catalogue making for an amazing show.



Between songs he was hilarious, with banter about bottled water coming from "the land of Kirk...where is this magical place called Kirkland?" (a reference to Costco for those who might not be bulk shopping addicts), about whether or not he should take off his blazer ("50% of my sophistication comes from me wearing this coat."), and a funny bit about Oasis and how Brit bands don't sweat, among other things. The show was $15 at the door and worth every penny. I hear he's based in L.A. and plays Hotel Cafe and Largo a lot, I hope that he found a welcoming crowd in San Diego and makes a habit about playing here in the most intimate of venues.

As I mentioned, we were in the 2nd row, so some of my video has the heads of the women who sat in front of me, but the sound is so phenomenal I still want to share. I eventually switched seats with Jeff and I think those videos are more or less unblocked. I will also say, for the record, that Gregory Page opened with a nice 30 minute set and I shot him playing my favorite Christmas song that I mentioned last week as well as another song, but unlike Grant, Gregory wouldn't ok me posting them. boo. So I'm going to keep harassing him but until then, enjoy these Grant Lee Phillips videos.



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