Anyone who listens to the Marc Riley show on BBC 6music will be familiar with Ezra Furman. I bought the album after some intensive airplay last year and haven't stopped playing it since. The Day of the Dog was one of my top 5 albums of last year but it doesn't sound like a contemporary 2013 release. When I first heard Tell Em All To Go To Hell I thought it was by some obscure 70s glam act I'd not heard before. The album to my ears is full of potential hit singles and could easily be a greatest hits compilation. I'm possibly not the best judge of what makes a top selling act but I really can't recommend that record highly enough.
Ezra has released a fair few albums, mostly with previous backing band The Harpoons but I've only got Day Of The Dog so far but based on tonight's show I have some catching up to do. This was Ezra's first visit to the UK but I'm pretty sure it won't be his last. After getting used to a spot near the back in previous gigs, I got to the Sebright Arms nice & early tonight to secure a place near the front. This was a feat made considerably easier by the fact there were only 5 people in the venue & 3 of those were almost certainly in the support band.
By the time Ezra & the Boy-Friends hit the stage the Sebright was rammed. Ezra, sporting dark sunglasses, said he was a little nervous at the thought of playing to a bunch of taste makers but it seemed to me the crowd were pretty genuine and here for a rock'n'roll party. They opened with two fast and furious tracks from Day Of The Dog and from the get-go people were dancing. Ezra introduced Caroline Jones as being possibly unreleased (it's actually the b-side of My Zero) but despite having heard it only once before I felt I knew it as well as any of the other tunes from the album. There followed a run of older material that went down as well as any of his recent stuff; American Soil, That's When It Hit Me & Bloodsucking Whore were as instantly loveable as any of the songs I knew. The excellent Mysterious Power segued into a brief snatch of Springsteen's Hungry Heart before the set began to ramp up with some of the best tracks from Ezra's latest album.
The Mall, originally by folk-punk singer Paul Baribeau, captures the 50s vibe perfectly whilst At The Bottom Of The Ocean hints at a time when music didn't feel the need to be serious all the time. My Zero was followed by Tell Em All To Go To Hell, my favourite tunes and a real high point in the set. By this point Ezra had the crowd pretty much eating out of his hand. The sunglasses were back on, appropriately, for Take Off Your Sunglasses with the crowd encouraging Ezra to do just that as "we wanna see your eyes". Anything Can Happen & We Should Fight brought the main set to a suitably raucous conclusion.
Slacker/Adria opened the encores, keeping the vibe upbeat and encouraging the Sebright audience to sing along with its Gloria style chorus. Ezra introduced The Marvelette's Please Mr Postman as his favourite song, which I thought hinted at where he's coming from, and this was followed by a similarly 50's influenced Train in Vain. To end the night in style Ezra returned for one more song, on his own this time with only his guitar for company. After a brief, slightly bizarre exchange, with a large Scottish man who called Ezra an Angel, we were treated to a stripped down performance of Cherry Lane. There was a lingering smile and a wave as Ezra left the stage and the feeling this was the start of something big. If you get the chance to catch him live do so soon, I don't think he'll be playing venues this size for very long.
MARO
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