EELS have visited the Corn Exchange in Cambridge many times in the past so, you would have thought Mark ('E') would have realised by now that he cannot exchange his corn there these days, (his 'corny' joke). Tonight it's the unplugged 5 piece version of EELS, Along with Mark, the long-standing line-up of The Chet, Knuckles (Derek Brown), Honest (Upright) Al (on upright bass) and P-Boo (Mike Sawitzke).
With the whole band suited and booted this was a total opposite to last year's electric and track suit clad version of the band at the End of the Road Festival.
With the excellent acoustic 'The Cautionary Tales of Mark Oliver Everett' released recently, there was a selection of songs from that record plus a really a good selection from the back catalogue as well a selection of covers.
E. himself shifting between electric guitar and piano pretty much had the audience watching in and listening intently. A solid hour of 18 songs after which a trail of "let's play one more song" brought the set to a close 75 minutes in. I guess the only criticism you could make of such a sublime gig was its length. With the volume of material available to the band another hour would have been great.
Where I'm At
When You Wish Upon a Star
The Morning
Parallels
Mansions of Los Feliz
Daisies of the Galaxy
A Line in the Dirt
Where I'm From
It's a Motherf*cker
Lockdown Hurricane
A Daisy through Concrete
Grace Kelly Blues
Fresh Feeling
I Like Birds
My Beloved Monster
Gentlemen's Choice
Mistakes of My Youth
Where I'm Going
Encore:
I Like the Way This Is Going
Blinking Lights (For Me)
Last Stop: This Town
3 Speed
Can't Help Falling in Love
Turn On Your Radio