Belle & Sebastian, New Pornographers (S.F. Concourse Design Center, 21 March 2006)

This is the next to the last installment of my Belle & Sebastian groupie kick. Unfortunately, the venue they chose for this show is the dreaded Design Center. I'm not a big fan of the Design Center, and I'm still not a fan. It's barren open floor, overpriced beer garden and cavernous feel makes this venue one of the worse in the Bay Area. There was nothing but a sea of bodies out on the floor, and I had to use my skinny frame to slither through an even remotely acceptable spot in the middle center. That's where I stayed all night, and I could barely get my groove on.

Which was a shame because Belle & Sebastian and the New Pornographers put on another great show.

I missed half of New Pornographer's set because of my slithering. From what I did catch, it seems like they were doing the "business as usual" bit like how they were in L.A. on Saturday night. I think they did engage in some chit chat with the audience but I don't remember. From what I recall, they played "Twin Cinema" and ended their set with "Sing Me Spanish Tecno."

Belle & Sebastian came on with the audience going crazy. Stevie was wearing his usual suit. Beans was wearing a brown "More Cowbell" shirt straight from Urban Outfitters. Stuart was wearing his french shirt like the one in L.A. with red trousers. So, there's the fashion update.

Stuart greeted the Bay Area crowd by shouting off some cities. He said hello to the people from Oakland, Berkeley and San Francisco. Too bad for the South Bay crowd!

Like their Saturday L.A. show, they started off with "Stars of Track and Field." Another beautiful rendition of one of the most beautiful songs off of If You're Feeling Sinister. For the next few songs, they played stuff from The Life Pursuit including "Another Sunny Day" and "Funny Little Frog."

One of the definite highlights was Electronic Renaissance (see video). As you'll see, Stevie was playing with his instrument like it was a light sabre ala Star Wars.



Another highlight of the B&S set was when they picked one lucky audience member to dance with them on stage. Like Saturday's L.A. show, Stuart told the story about his self-conscious nature and wanted someone to go up on stage to dance with him. Well, Jenny here (I think) was the lucky girl.



Unfortunately, B&S had to leave immediately to their next show. Thus, I wasn't able to get to play football with them. *sigh* Well, Stuart did say he may be going back on holiday. So, we shall see.

Overall, despite the horrible venue, it was a great show.

Beer Rating: