Jenny & Johnny - The Luminaire

Sadly one of my favorite London venue's The Luminaire on Kilburn High road announced recently they'll be closing down in the new year. Still I got to enjoy the place one more time with a much anticiapted Jenny Lewis and Johnathan Rice show to promote their recently released Jenny & Johnny album.

I'd read online they were a bit funny about delving into their respective back catalogs during these duo shows. True to their word - the main set featured 10 of the 11 songs from the Jenny and Johnny album. I've actually had that record on high rotation for a few weeks so it was actually a blast to hear chunky live versions of the album. They also had a big set-up for a 200 person room so the show was loud!

Not surprisingly, the any subtle quieter songs tended to be a little lost, but the rockier material, particularly opener "Comitted", a blistering "My Pet Snakes", and "Big Wave" all sounded great. New song "Just One of The Guys" was also very good.
For the encore, we did get a small dip into the back catalog with "End of the Affair" from Jonathan Rice's 2007 album 'Further North" but the highlight for me (and most of the crowd) was a few selections from Lewis's 2008 second solo album 'Acid Tongue' including "Next Messiah" and a show closing "Carpetbaggers" with Rice taking on the Elvis Costello vocals. The clear highlight was however was a spine-tingling "Acid Tongue" with the female duo from support act La Sera adding gospel-like backing vocals. Mesmerizing!

Full setlist:
01. Committed
02. Scissor Runner
03. New Yorker Cartoon
04. My Pet Snakes
05. Just Like Zeus
06. Straight Edge of the Blade
07. Slavedriver
08. Switchblade
09. Big Wave
10. Just One of the Guys *new song*
11. Animal
12. The Next Messiah
13. End of the Affair
14. Acid Tongue
15. Carpetbaggers