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MAGNETIC FIELDS - CASTLE CLINTON - 8/3/00
surely the irony wasn't lost on anyone when the rain, having held up all day, came pouring down just as the magnetic fields concert began; that the only black cloud in all of manhattan hovered over the small monument gave me a laugh, at least. as you can guess, it did end up raining fairly heavily and the show was called about 45 minutes in. it all started so promisingly too, what with the promoter announcing that this would be the longest show of the season since it was the last. sadly, it wasn't to be.

the show began with a spare, lovely version of "a pretty girl is like...": this was my first mf concert and hearing merritt's voice live was quite a revelation. the voice was sterling and unwaveringly perfect: for the longest time, i believed him to possess a very cool, deep voice, but it wasn't until perhaps the charm of the highway strip that i felt he was evolving into a good singer. the voice was so commanding and so alluring last night that i couldn't imagine any singer being able to compete. which is why dudley and l.d. stood no chance when merritt performed versions of "let's pretend we're bunny rabbits" and "the luckiest guy on the lower east side." i felt that both of them gave good performances on the record, but it wasn't until i heard merritt sing them that i realized he was meant to sing his own words; when he did "all my little words" and "come back from san francisco" live, two songs i've thought were a tad too precious despite my liking them, his vocals gave an edge to the prettiness and made them all the better for it.

from the beginning, i've felt one of the band's real strengths was merritt's mostly synth-based productions: imagine my surprise then when the songs were treated organically and sounded better than on record. songs that particularly benefitted from the treatment were "no one will ever love you," which had a driving piano arrangement; "asleep & dreaming" which was the softest lullaby you could imagine; "the luckiest guy on the lower east side" whose ploppy synth was replaced by a sublime piano part, and merritt absolutely nailed the ending; and "i don't believe the sun," a modern standard on record which became transcendent with its beautiful piano and viola accompaniment. on that last song, as the clouds gathered and the wind picked up, though it was a beautiful version, you couldn't help but think that maybe merit shouldn't be spiting the sun as it was having enough troubles as it was. ;)

claudia was an absolute dream, an indie-rock dream girl if there ever was one. her piano playing was beautiful and her between song banter was funny and endearing. she said "thank you" after every song, compared to stephin's one, slightly muffled "thank you." she told amusing anectdotes about their british record company reps and their way of saying "GOODBYE!" forty octaves higher than their regular conversation -- they just returned from england; i would've liked it if they left the weather behind -- and she was our constant weathergal, giving us matter-of-fact statements like, "it's raining!" merritt wasn't nearly the misanthrope people make him out to be, though perhaps with the darkness and gloominess, he was in his element. he introduced "meaningless"; he told us all how atonal music was becoming very popular which is why they had to buy the helicopter (last year, it was the theremin, this year it's the helicopter, what's next?); he wondered aloud if they had any songs about natural disasters as the dark clouds rolled in and shouted out "all the umbrellas in london" -- they didn't play it, sadly; and closed the show exclaiming, "we're all dead if we stay here!" one of the funniest moments belonged to merritt's. the guy seems like a consummate professional, but as the rain starts pouring down, he breaks out in laughter two words into "the night you can't remember" and has to restart.

as i said, the show ended 45 minutes in and we got 18 songs. songs that i never really particularly cared for, like "pretty girl...," "bunny rabbits," and "asleep & dreaming," were wonderful live and i don't think there was one song that didn't sound better live. it was a shame that the show had to end so soon, but i will definitely try to catch them live next time they're in the area. in merritt's hands, the book of love may be long, but it sure ain't boring.

setlist: 1. a pretty girl 2. i don't believe in the sun 3. all my little words 4. a chicken with its head cut off 5. reno dakota 6. come back from san francisco 7. let's pretend we're bunny rabbits 8. asleep and dreaming 9. i don't want to get over you 10. the book of love 11. parades go by 12. meaningless 13. fido, your leash is too long 14. no one will ever love you 15. very funny 16. the luckiest guy on the lower east side 17. kiss me like you mean it 18. the night you can't remember