Belle & Sebastian

The Shins

Hollywood Bowl - July 6, 2006

Live Review by Adam McKibbin

In olden days, it was something of a crapshoot, the Belle & Sebastian live experience. Frontman Stuart Murdoch was as stage-shy as he was publicity-shy, and the enigmatic band was often reported to be on the verge of shambles, a far cry from their finely tuned recorded output.

Maybe it came with age and experience, maybe it came with the departure of Isobel Campbell, but something happened and Murdoch became a showman. Flash forward to 2006 and here he is on one of America’s most storied stages for one of his band’s biggest shows to date: a headlining date with the Los Angeles Philharmonic playing behind them, their first live leap with a full orchestra (obviously a natural fit). Here he is teasing the upper-crust audience about their caviar, and here he is pulling a girl on stage to dance. Here he is cracking jokes, putting on makeup, and running a lap around the audience like David Byrne or Bono.

Despite having a fine new album to tour (The Life Pursuit from earlier this year), Murdoch & Co. all but ignored it, showing more love for Dear Catastrophe Waitress, Fold Your Hands Child…, and The Boy With The Arab Strap. Belle & Sebastian have consistently released single EPs that are worth seeking out, and “I’m Waking Up to Us” and, particularly, “Jonathan David” made big impressions on the Bowl audience.

As is often the case with these one-off types of shows, the Philharmonic sometimes sounded perfectly aligned with the band on some songs, and somewhat disjointed and extraneous on others. The dizzying highs, like “Don’t Leave the Light On Baby,” made the rough patches easily forgivable.

Belle & Sebastian were clearly thrilled by the proceedings, and that excitement was contagious—as was the charisma of Murdoch and Stevie Jackson. By the encore, the fans in the cheap seats said a collective “Fuck it, we’re dancing” and bum-rushed the front of the venue, gaily skipping past the restrained toe-tappers in the boxes. A fair chunk even wound up on stage, thanks to the most full-scale stage siege this reviewer has ever seen. It was an appropriate close to a show that was one-of-a-kind from conception to finish.

The Shins didn’t inspire any gate-crashing during their opening set, but were every bit as likable and enjoyable as one would expect. They seemed a little thrown off by a crowd that, despite a sprinkling of devotees, was generally more concerned with its dinner conversations. Their new songs sounded determined to stay faithful to melodic indie pop while refusing to regurgitate the fan favorites from the Garden State soundtrack.