The EELS - The Enmore 14/08/10

The last in a string of gigs over the past few weeks was The EELS, again, at The Enmore. Almost by accident, I managed to see both support acts, the first being listed as Ventriloquist. Hmm... I thought... I haven't heard of this band before! As I walked in I was surprised (oddly enough) to see a woman on stage with a doll on a chair pretending to talk for it. Her jokes were average but she was only on for 15 minutes and the weirdness factor was entertaining enough! Up next, the bill said Laura Imbruglia, I googled and sure enough, she's the sister of Natalie. I noticed a small boy on stage who picked up a massive acoustic guitar and left me shocked when the most amazing female voice busted out of it! She was really interesting. Her style was a bit country and her lyrics were funny and angry-man-hating at the same time. Think a little, bitter, female, John Williamson. Loved her!

Then on came Mark Everett better known as E. The weirdness continued, 'IT'S THE STIG!' I thought. E was dressed in a white racing jumpsuit and his face was completely covered, with beard, Sun glasses and a camouflage bandanna. He started out with a few softer songs from the last 2 albums before the rest of the band wandered onstage and kicked it up a notch. I was confused because of E's outfit compared with the rest of the band who were all in funky jazz/rock get up with vests and caps. Over the course of the set I slowly realised that all band members had sunglasses on and were all massively beardy!

They played great tracks like Prizefighter, Hombre Lobo, In My Dreams, End Times and my favourite Fresh Blood. But they also mixed it up a bit by playing My Beloved (one of the many songs they have on the several Shrek soundtracks) double time and much more funky. They also changed God Damn Right when E sang the songs lyrics to the band playing The Beatles Twist and Shout. Bizarre but really entertaining! There was also songs featuring Punk influences as well as Rockabilly, but the weird crescendo of the night happened during an odd Latin sounding track when E went to the back of the stage opened a little coolie box and proceeded to throw Cornetto's into the audience. At that point I remember thinking, why is The Stig throwing ice creams into the audience during a Latin song? I don't do drugs but did I accidentally take acid somewhere along the way?

They played a few slower tracks for an encore then that was it for the night. From the moment I walked in and there was a Ventriloquist onstage, to seeing a 12 year old boy take the floor that turned out to be a woman with a huge voice, to The Stig throwing out ice creams during a Latin track, I spent the night so very confused! Confused, but thoroughly entertained!! I've been told, you never know what to expect when going to an EELS gig and what we got was definitely unexpected!