Jeremy Enigk

Troubadour - August 28, 2006

Live Review by Adam McKibbin

“California loves you, Jeremy!” a fan shouted during Jeremy Enigk’s set at the Troubadour.  A typical thing for someone to say, but, in this case, motivated by a not-so-typical history.  During his days as the frontman for Sunny Day Real Estate, Enigk didn’t get a chance to see the Golden State very often; the band refused to play shows in California, supposedly because guitarist Dan Hoerner didn’t want anything to do with the evils of Los Angeles (why this warranted the blacklisting of the entire state was never really explained).

By now, Sunny Day Real Estate have broken up—twice—and Enigk’s oddly controversial conversion to Christianity is old news.  His solo career is back on track, with World Waits (coming later this year) putting an end to a nearly ten-year dry period.  He is, as he is quick to point out, happy to be here…even here, Los Angeles, Babylon.

“I love you more,” he offers back. 

Reciprocity was not a problem, as the crowd ate up the bulk of Enigk’s set as he bounced between front and center with his guitar and off to the stage with his keyboard.  Showcasing some new songs from World Waits (due in October) as well as mixing in some old favorites from 1996’s Return of the Frog Queen.

Enigk played with the fervor of someone still trying to make a favorable first impression, whether yelping his way through the emo-rockier portions of his catalog or, as during his solo encore, stripping things down and reminding everyone that “quiet” can still be plenty intense.  It was anything but a first impression for most people, of course, and some of the crowd had that glazed “I can’t believe this is really happening” look from the very beginning.  But while he didn’t have to work hard to win over the audience, there was still a fair amount of pressure on Enigk, especially given that his new material is quite a bit different from those early days.  Two new songs are freely available online; of those, the airy, plaintive “River To Sea” leaves the deepest impression - and suggests that World Waits will be worth checking out not just for the longtime Enigk admirers, but even for newcomers.