Jets To Brazil

with J. Majesty and Pedro The Lion

Graceland, Seattle, WA • September 23, 2000

Marcel Feldmar

Feeling, at times, too old, finding myself in the middle of a packed all-ages show makes me feel very strange. Thankfully, the music can lift everyone up to the same level, and it feels all right to just be in the moment. This is what happened this night. The dynamics of the three bands throughout the night provided a beautiful transition from energy to introspection and back and forth again.

Openers J. Majesty managed to impress the uninitiated and please the already converted with their funked-out aggressive rock n’ roll that shifted from screams to whispers in perfect time. Moving through the whispers we head directly into the serenity of Pedro The Lion. Keeping the songs calm and the crowd quiet, Pedro picked through some of the finest melodies to reach an understanding between performer and audience. There was a tense air of anticipation, everyone itching to hear the next band, but it is hard to resist the spell that wraps around you when the room is full and the songs just envelop you.

Pedro The Lion glide through their set and off the stage, and the crowd of kids, and me, cheer on Blake and the boys as they walk on stage, thank us all for being there, and promise to give us something we will love. Hitting hard right away with songs off of Orange Rhyming Dictionary, those songs that just get the crowd going, like “Crown of the Valley,” “Lemon Yellow Black,” and “Conrad,” Jets to Brazil filled the room with sound and melody. Moving back and forth between the high energy and the more melancholy strains of songs like “Sea Anemone,” the heat and the passion made the performance become like an almost-religious experience. The words and beats and guitar streaming through hearts. Picking very cautiously, it seemed, from the new album, Blake did his time sitting in front of the keys and pushing out his songs to a very receptive crowd, singing along to songs like “You’re Having the Time of My Life” and “Orange Rhyming Dictionary,” both off of Four Cornered Night. This night had no corners, and the entire audience seemed to be singing along with “I Typed For Miles.” I know I was, and then it was over, thanks to the all-ages curfew, much too soon… and the Jets flew, leaving me in a sweat-soaked sigh and swoon. ◼