Ben Kweller - "Penny on a Train Track"
After watching BK's set get cut short last year due to a wicked nose bleed, I finally got to see my fellow Brooklynite play an entire set Friday night at Webster Hall. Last fall Kweller toured with a six piece band, allowing him to flesh out the arrangements from his fantastic self-made and self-titled 2006 album. This time around the States Kweller stripped his band down to a trio and I couldn't help but think it was an improvement. Since he had no one else to help out with guitar and keyboard parts, Kweller had to focus on carrying the songs by himself. And with the rhythm section of Chris Morrissey and Mark Stepro locked into a groove that can only be honed over a tour behind him, Kweller was--quite simply put--on fire. Great solos, powerful vocals and witty banter--the kid had it all on this night.
"Penny on The Train Track" was the final song, and the best, of the night. Kweller introduced it by saying he had shot a video with his grandmother dancing to the song, and he seemed genuinely surprised to announced that the video had been played on MTV's TRL. And then the pure enthusiasm and joy he poured into his performance was so infectious that I couldn't stop myself from singing along to every word.
When I got home (a trip which took 2 hours and 15 minutes, MTA fuckers!) I searched for this "Penny On the Train Track" clip. And Kweller was right--it's just a fun video of his grandmother dancing and occasionally lip-synching to the song. May it get played on TRL some more:
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1 comment:
i like when she starts getting interpretive midway through. she must have taken a ton of aerobics classes because she uses the classic moves.
(moria)
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