just a note on the venue - waiting online for the early show was truly horrendous. i saw fischerspooner here some months ago, and i believe i waited 3 hours before they got onstage through two terrible bands. i really thought there was no way the canal room could mess this up, due to the fact there was a late show so the early show would simply HAVE to start on time, but i was wrong: the canal room, every time, without fail, makes you never want to see a concert again.

that said, jon brion certainly made up for it once we got inside :)

on another funny note, as we were waiting on line in the cold and the rain, i heard the people behind me grumble and say, "brooklyn vegan will surely hear about this!"

amazing pics (as usual). i'm jealous you were able to get that close to the stage. and i'm also bummed i didn't hide in the bathroom until the second set started so i could see all three. i thought we were lucky to get waterloo sunset in the first set...but pale blue eyes?!? just what i needed?!? life on mars?!? damn, i love jon brion.

i have to say, i was pretty underwhelmed by the first set...waiting on line sucked, i was freezing but once we got in, the song selection was pretty meh for brion. i wanted to hear songs from meaningless and i heart huckabees. i felt 25% of the first set was good, and 75% was like 'yeah, the guy is talented but a bit uneven and meandering.'

didnt realize how awesome the second set would be.

did the show have seating last night? or standing room?

yeah, sam, now that you say so, i completely agree with you that the first set last night seemed somewhat stilted (stunted? i don't really know what word i'm looking for, but you get the idea). it was especially disappointing and anxiety-inducing for me, since i was taking someone to see him who had never even heard any of his music, and was hoping that he would simply be blown away by a magnificent set. i'm still as big a fan as i ever was, but jeez...he could have done so much better!

Caught the main bit of the late show. The man's a freakin' genius -- amazing all the songs that must be running thru his head. I was not familiar with his work (just his name). No wonder everyone wants to work with him. He played several genres of music, including a '20s piece, some classic rock stuff. I think I most appreciated the melding of Havanagilah (sp?) with Sunshine of Your Love and Maps. Sweet.

That being said, there was no way I'd be alive if I had stayed till the end. I'm a zombie right now as is! Damn the Canal Room for starting so late!

It looks like The Canal Room has surpassed Webster Hall atop the list of most loathed NYC venues.

I posted video that I shot of Brion covering the Kinks' Waterloo Sunset on my friend's site. Listen for the spontaneous audience choir singing background vocals - check it out:
http://lifegoesoff.blogspot.com/2005/10/jon-brion-musical-genius.html

Last nights show was awesome. The "heroes" to end the set was amazing. It is one of my favorite Bowie songs and Jon's version melted my face. Truely amazing. I post pics at my site.

i love jon brion so much it hurts. last night's show was the best of the three times i've seen him so far. why can't he just move to new york city???

Last night's show was great (funkytown?!), and there were no particular problems with waiting outside that I noticed. It did start at 8:07 or so, with an announced time of 7:30, but that's not so bad.

Thanks so much for the great photos from a really great night.

Further fun with the Canal Room staff -- on Wednesday, they were getting antsy because Jon was still soundchecking half an hour after scheduled doors (which was nothing compared to how late they let people in on Tuesday!). So they dashed through the line with their clipboard, and then let people in WITH JON STILL ON STAGE.

He disappeared very quickly, and Sami confirmed that they had not in fact been able to finish soundchecking.

The show was amazing, of course, so in the end there was no harm done, it was just seriously inconsiderate of the artist.