Jeremy Jay @ 7th Street Entry, Minneapolis – July 26th
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Tour Dates 08/09/08 Lucky 7 House, Olympia, WA
08/14/08 CLUB POP SEATTLE, WA 08/16/08 LUIGIS FUN SACR, CA 08/18/08 CLUB DONUT SF, CA 09/16/08 KARRERA CLUB BERLIN 09/19/08 NIUWE ANITA AMSTERDAM 09/20/08 SOUTH POP FESTIVAL 09/21/08 ZXZW FESTIVAL TILBURG 09/22/08 ASTRA TUBE CLUB 09/23/08 MAGIC MAGAZINE PARTY@fleche d’or PARIS 09/24/08 KB MALMOE 09/25/08 Blaa OSLO 09/26/08 UNION ROCK DRAMMEN, Oslo 09/27/08 Fritz´s Corner @ Debaser Slussen STOCKHOLM 09/30/08 COLMAR GRILLEN 10/01/08 TBA CLERMONT 10/02/08 CRI DE LA MUETTE TOULOUSE 10/03/08 Emporium Galorium ROUEN 10/04/08 Mains d’Oeuvres PARIS 10/05/08 FREEBUT BRIGHTON 10/06/08 BARFLY LONDON 10/07/08 THE LIBRARY LEEDS 10/08/08 BARFLY GLASGOW, Scotland 10/09/08 BLACK BOX BELFAST 10/10/08 Upstairs @ Whelans capDUBLIN 10/11/08 CYPRESS AVENUE CORK 11/26/08 TROUBADOUR BRISBANE 11/27/08 HOPETOWN SYDNEY 11/28/08 ROXANNE MELBOURNE 11/29/08 QUEENSCLIFF FOLK FEST 12/07/08 HOLOGRAM ANGEL, CA Read More |
Recently it’s been brought to my attention that 6’3” is not ‘that’ tall (it’s only ‘tall’). Still, watching Jeremy Jay play on Saturday, all 6’3” of him, I understood why he appears that tall. There’s a gangly unease to his presence; he’s mostly arms and legs, with a flop of pale hair and a crinkly smile. Something about him inspires the word ‘dapper’ (perhaps the heeled loafers), and yet his physical gravitas is underplayed by the fact that he seems really nice (perhaps because of the oversized Corona that befriended his hand all night)
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Jay performed selections from A Place Where We Could Go, his latest release (April 2008), Airwalker (2007 EP), and Alpharhythm, a shiny curiosity that’s as booty shaking as a mellow 60s throwback can be. “Heavenly Creatures,” one of my favorite tracks from A Place, didn’t differ much from the album version in execution; it was just better. Truthfully, all the songs were better live (a statement proved true by my concert companion who said “he’s better live” and “I like this”).
It’s always special when a musician improves himself on stage. Jay plus band had a richer sound and a more inviting presence. While A Place envisions a sort of sparse alternaverse, where Lynch meets Howard Hawks and every moment is like opening the door to Oz (you know, trippy but logical), the show felt comfortably austere. Jay’s style still fluctuated between vintage noir and downtown hipster, but his attitude was mostly blasé. He rocked out a bit, funked it up a smidge, and even tackled the underappreciated Blondie ballad “Shayla” without ruining it forever. Moreover, as if to befit the Entry’s seedy punk club-meets-rapist’s basement ambience, his pretty croon sounded sort of sexy, in a dirty, non-cardigan-wearing way (as opposed to his clean-cut, cardigan-wearing self). By the end of the show, JJ’s good boy image was ruffled some, thanks to that sexy voice and also thanks to large bottles of Corona. (Thanks, large bottles of Corona.)
Jeremy Jay is still on tour. He’s tall (but not that tall), nice, and may need a floor to sleep on. If you have a spare floor (or like music), check out the tour dates. You can find more information on his K Records page (www.krecs.com) or his Myspace (www.myspace.com/jeremyjay).
Links: myspace.com/jeremyjay desolationwilderness.net www.krecs.com