The first time I ever heard Belle & Sebastian was in this scene from High Fidelity:
"Seymour Stein" is not the song that made me a fan. But neither is B&S "sad bastard music" as Barry (Jack Black) proclaims. Much of it is genuinely catchy, upbeat, smart pop music. I'm someone who needs songs to have good lyrics. It's odd that this realization only came to me in the last half-decade or so. I think it's because so much popular music is just so bland lyrically that clever lyrics always just seemed like a nice bonus if a song was otherwise pleasant to listen to.
I hadn't been exposed to B&S's early work, growing up in Pittsburgh and attending college in Indiana in the days before iTunes. But somehow, gradually, from around 2003 onward, I started hearing them more. It's a bit sad to say, but the iTunes "genius" feature probably helped. "Piazza, New York Catcher" was the first B&S song I really got hooked on - in around 2005. I didn't know anything about the band at the time - just that this clever, lovely song had somehow found its way into my iPod and I really liked listening to it. It took until around 2009 for B&S to become one of my absolute favorite bands ever. It had to do, I think, with moving to Manhattan from the Bronx. I started making a habit of taking long walks around the Central Park Reservoir, and the soundtrack to those walks almost immediately became 2006's The Life Pursuit. It's still my favorite B&S album, followed by Dear Catastrophe Waitress and Write About Love, though I love the earlier records, too. I just got so drawn into the songs - I found the lyrics so engrossing and the music so beautiful that listening became addictive. Soon I had acquired quite a collection of B&S albums (now I'm working on acquiring the vinyl versions). And what is it about Stuart Murdoch? His voice is lovely and delicate, but there are stronger singers out there. I read his book, The Celestial Cafe recently, which was actually just a collection of blog posts from 2003-2006 (The Dear Catastrophe Waitress and Life Pursuit eras). I didn't think it would be the type of thing I'd find unputdownable, but somehow it really drew me in. He seems like such a down-to-earth guy - one with whom it would be fun to talk about music and politics and whatever else over a cup of tea. Actually, I'd be way out of my depth talking about music with him. But he seems the type of guy to be interested in talking about pretty much anything.
On stage Stuart is a wonderfully energetic and charismatic performer (I've heard that wasn't always the case, but of course I never went to see B&S in the early days). Last night, I saw Belle & Sebastian perform in Brooklyn for the second time. The first was a fantastic show in Williamsburg in 2010, when they were promoting Write About Love. Last night's sold-out concert was at the Prospect Park Band Shell, and if I didn't have the same crazy-excitement of seeing them perform for the first time, this time I knew what to expect, and I knew it would be a great show. The opening act was Yo La Tengo, who came on at 7:00. I had arrived at a little after 6 and got a spot pretty close to the stage. My sister would join me later, but I was not about to miss out on being able to see everything, right down to the band's facial expressions. I enjoyed Yo La Tengo, a band I don't know that much about, though I'd heard of and I think I have some of their songs in my iTunes collection. They seemed pretty eclectic and fun, and got a great reception from the audience. That crowd had definitely come to see Belle & Sebastian, though.
At 8:30 on the dot, the main event began. The band came on stage. They started with the instrumental "Judy is a Dick Slap," and moved right into the lively and funny "I'm a Cuckoo." And they played so many of my favorites! "Funny Little Frog" was played. "Another Sunny Day," too. I must have played those songs hundreds of times over the past few years, but there is nothing like hearing them live. Between songs, Stuart, with his lovely Scottish accent, regaled the audience with his adventures on the High Line and with trying out Citi Bike and getting lost in Brooklyn (of course Stuart Murdoch would try Citi Bike. An of course he'd take it out of the area where Citi Bike is usually found). There was also banter with Stevie Jackson, and not just one but two forays into the audience. I was sooo sad that I didn't get to go on stage with a bunch of other people during "The Boy with the Arab Strap" and "Legal Man." I probably could have, but I'd have had to push past two rather large men to get over the railing separating audience from stage, and I didn't quite have that in me. But I enjoyed it anyway. They weren't promoting an album this time, and just played lots of stuff from all different eras of the band. Stuart did a lot of dancing. The whole audience had a great time, and sang along at various points - always a good sign. They played until a little after 10 PM, including an encore, but the whole evening just flew by. This is definitely one band I'll always make a point of going to see when they're in town, and if you can manage to get tickets for any of the shows left on this tour, I'd recommend it highly.
I managed to get some photos with my iPhone:
The stage before the show ...I was destined to peer around this guy's "Texas Tech" hat all night.
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
Stuart on the keyboard...he didn't keep that long-sleeved shirt very long. It was a muggy night.
