Rilo Kiley at La Tulipe, Montreal

Rilo Kiley took the stage at Montreal's La Tulipe recently. Drew Taylor was there to take it in.

Fresh off an overseas foray, Los Angeles' Rilo Kiley took songs from their recent LP Under The Blacklight to neon stage lights of Montreal's La Tulipe last Wednesday. With a shift to major record label Warner Bros, and a debut single titled "The Moneymaker" I sort of knew what to expect. I entered La Tulipe, drowned myself in Boreale and awaited neon gratification. The smoky haze of the place immediately impressed itself upon me. I thought people had been smoking inside, however like everything else that night, it was a faintly sparkling let down. Enough sass to leave you wanting more but making you impatiently pissed off about it.

Since swerving into synth-pop on the critically cuddled Postal Service record Give Up (2003), singer Jenny Lewis has gained considerable notoriety as a solo artist. She released her first record last year under the mysterious moniker Jenny Lewis With The Watson Twins putting her name along side a list of collaborations including Conor Oberst from Bright Eyes, and M. Ward, and with the elusive Watson twins featured as an almost off-stage circus sideshow attraction.

When Lewis took the stage at La Tulipe in a golden-lined red-velvet leotard, I saw prophecy unveil itself. What I saw on stage was Leslie Feist's puny kid sister; An Ashlee Simpson caught red-lipped on Saturday Night Live. The opening numbers poured out with an unmistakable flare for epic pop that rekindled the old spirit of "Pictures of Success" from 2001's Take Offs and Landings, thereupon the show derailed into the more concise catchy hits "Paint's Peeling" and "Portions For Foxes." Teen heads be-bopped, snaking arms flailed fluidly, and the band stopped playing, or did they? At least it appeared that way.

When the climax pop-hooks fizzled and faded the lights drooped low, guitars tuned up and the band exchanged knowing glances. Then: to my surprise a CD is being played over the loudspeaker, the band begins to play along with it! The song is dancehall single "The Moneymaker" which I soon realize rivals MTV stars Fall Out Boy for DIY to radio boy/girl/band crossover. I'm pretty astounded by this additional, not to mention pre-recorded, orchestra. I even feel a little cheated. I certainly didn't come to watch Warner Bros. record goons hone up on their indie-country music chops.

Disregarding an acoustic interlude, the show quickly becomes a theatrical production sticking to Blacklight material. Endings of songs are segued with audio tracks and lighting cues to ease changeovers. Just one other song is fully automated a la Warner Bros. electro-click, this humorously backfires on Lewis and band mates when the track has to be re-started—immediately inspiring Ashlee Simpson comparisons—and tiny giggles rise up from an otherwise enraptured crowd, the majority of which are purring like cuddly cats. Jenny sub-awkwardly invites us to laugh off the blunder as she cheers for the 'band' to start again and purses her lips into a heavily put-on pouty face. The next song features a chorus sung by none other than: the crowd, as Jenny droops the microphone shyly over smiling popcorn-bopping girls in the front row.

Oddly enough, what I took away most from the concert was an image of Leslie Feist dancing on my iPod Nano in blue sequins. Slash the pant legs of those blue sequins and you'll find Jenny Lewis in red velvet. Her stage presence really gave the sensation of trying to capitalize on Feist's fame and image, especially after having seen Lewis perform once before in blue jeans on The Execution of All Things tour. The saving grace of Blacklight is her acerbic wit that still pierces through the tender and somewhat trivialized lyrics. Songs like the title track's aphorism "even dead men lie in their coffins", or "Close Call" which wryly observes "funny thing about money for sex/ You might get rich but you'll die by it." And as Jenny strips down to her stockings, this last line I think, has an undernote of irony. The bogus internet ads will probably read: Gwen Stefani, Metric,, Leslie Feist, and now Jenny Lewis, Hot celebrities coming soon to an X-rated google search near you. Buy yours TODAY hot, hot, hot!

To see Feist's iPod Nano commercial visit http://youtube.com/watch?v=PB3C0lKbqyM

Photo by Steve McFarland, Creative Commons license, not taken at the Montreal show

Drew Taylor