Was Jenny Lewis as sexy as I had hoped, definitely. Was the show what I expected, not quite. It wasn't high energy, she wasn't jumping all around the stage. She danced to herself and looked cute. It was controlled and right on. The band is older now...Jenny is 30 so I guess I should have seen it coming. Especially after the release of their most recent cd Under The Blacklight. It is noticeably different from their previous two The Execution of All Things and More Adventurous; softer, more feminine. Maybe even closer to light rock. Still catchy as hell but the tone is different. Gone is the insecurity and guilt that was all over Execution in songs like "The Good That Won't Come Out" and "A Better Son/Daughter"; gone is the anger from More Adventurous on "Does He Love You" and "Portions For Foxes". Those emotions have been replaced by the self assuredness on "Silver Lining" where Jenny sings,
and I was your silver lining
as the story goes
I was your silver lining
but now I'm gold
hooray hooray
I'm your silver lining
hooray hooray
but now I'm gold
She sounds like she has finally found herself and is, pardon the term, "comfortable in her own skin". You can especially hear this on "Breaking Up", the groups' disco track. Jenny sings about a break-up with an ex and instead of brooding she's gay and breezy about it. When they played that song at the show it got the same response a "Like A Prayer" gets...when girls hear that song they all look at each other and make big eyes that say "oh my god, oh my god" and dance in a circle pretending that for those 4 minutes, guys don't exist. It's not that I can't reach down and find my inner gay man, I can get down with the best of them, I just felt like this time around the party wasn't catered to me. I was happy to be there nonetheless. I do miss the old Jenny, the one who would drop F-bombs all over the place, but I dig this one too. She's a little mellower and perhaps the most attractive thing about her is that she doesn't seem to give a shit about me, she's who she is. And when I say she doesn't give a shit, that isn't laced with any defensiveness, she's just unconcerned with external judgement. Perhaps that's what growing up is, hopefully when I grow up I can do it gracefully as she has.
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