Standing in front of a empty front room, Jenny Owen Youngs opened the night beckoning the crowd to move forward. In an almost biblical way, the seats and tables parted and the room came to her. “Thanks for understanding you guys. You guys are fucking awesome already,” she said with a smirk. “Let’s get this thing started.” 
But then again, why the hell wouldn’t you want to be up close where you can see Youngs’ for what she’s worth?
With an energy and stage presence unique to only her, you never really know what you’re going to see. With a hyper meets awkward, yet in your face collection of twitches and tells, the show shifts and twists around like an A.D.H.D. kid bored as fuck of his math homework.
Her sets are no different. Starting out at a sprint before calming it down from the sets opening two songs, “Led to the Sea” and “Clean Break,” both from the latest release, Transmitter Failure, Owen’s threw it back to Batten the Hatches with “Voice on Tape.” Though extremely different in technicality and structure from the album version, which featured a lot of voicemail samples and playful judgments by Regina Spektor, “Voice on Tap” also transcends fluently to stage as well. This, most likely is thanks to her in your face larger than life personality that shows she can hold her own in both stage and album. Those stories that capture your heart as a listener, become true to life when heard straight from the mouth.
Her lyrics stand out live, with a simplistic way about them that makes it seem like she’s talking directly to you. Unlike a large handful of indie darlings, she’s not afraid to put her problems out there, stating them in plain English, unpolished or touched up for charming. They’re real, translatable and the same bullshit you deal with every day. This rings true in her new songs, ——– and the extremely blunt a la tongue in cheek hit “Fuck was I.” She states, “the skillet on the stove is such a temptation/maybe I’ll be the lucky one that doesn’t get burned/What the fuck was I thinking?” Seriously, who hasn’t struggled with that before?
The thing that I find amazing about Owen is that regardless of her heavy handed content, her songs and her show manage to be fun. She’s absolutely not there to bring you down. She jumps and shifts around the stage giving those in attendance no choice but shake their ass instead of slit their wrists. Her cover of Motion City Soundtrack‘s “The Conversation” is a perfect example of this. Highlighting her ability to balance having a good time and clocking in to her job, she does a great job of not taking herself too seriously while approaching serious subjects. Jenny Lewis, you should take notes.
Led to The Sea
Clean Break
Voice on Tape
Secrets
*New Song*
Fuck Was I
The Conversation (Motion City Soundtrack Cover)
Last Person
If I Didn’t Know
Start/Stop
