Jenny Owen Youngs & Emily Wells Live @ City Winery NYC

She saw you, Levi...and she knows you Whooed.

I found out about this show via Jenny Owen Youngs' Tumblr blog as she was invited, eleventh-hour-style, to join Emily Wells performing at City Winery. Now, I'd never been to City Winery before, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. Lemme fill you in so that, if you should happen to go there at some point (say, for instance, to see Beth Orton perform on 17th January), you will know what to expect. City Winery is, in fact a winery - well, they sell wine anyway. Unlike, say, The Knitting Factory which may have at some point been a knitting factory, but is currently not a factory of any kind. More than that, it is a winery/restaurant with a biggish stage on the back wall. It is beautifully lit, well-appointed, and has lots of tables and chairs that are not moved or rearranged in any way when there is a performance on the afore mentioned biggish stage. Seating is "cozy", so get to know your neighbors because if the place is packed with Jenny Owens Youngs and/or Emily Wells fans (as it just so happened to be on this particular evening), you will all be pretty much sitting in eachother's laps for the duration of the evening. Cozy. The wine is lovely. The food is nothing to write home about, but the accoustics are tremendous; so sit back with your wine and enjoy the show!

After some dramatic red velvet curtain parting, Jenny & Co. took to the stage and promptly commenced to tune their instruments...because, as Jenny told us, "...I care about you and I want the very best for you..." Soon thereafter, she kicked off the evening with If I Didn't Know. She seemed to be still finding her footing a bit with Led To The Sea, but finally hit her stride with the crowd pleaser, Drinking Song. Jenny then asked if there were any babies in the audience. After a few claps and shouts from the crowd, she concluded that there weren't any babies in the audience because, "...babies don't have the ability to clap like that." She seemed mostly concerned about babies in attendance because she thought that she might "...swear a lot accidentally...and then later, on purpose." Nice to know that Jenny's lookin' out for our best interests. Warm fuzzies. Thanks Jenny! All this while switching from electric to acoustic guitar ("Whoa! This is a totally different guitar! That's some Houdini-ass sh*t...") This little exchange was followed by Nighty Night (which, by the way, babies would have loved had there been any in the audience). Secrets was up next and was so kick-ass that i was a little saddened that my cozy seating situation wasn't a standing room only situation. It's definitely a get on your feet and sing along kind of a song. There was much singing along in the room, at any rate. See for yourself!

Jenny Owen Youngs performing Secrets live at City Winery NYC

Next up was no more words...and really, when you listen to the lyrics "I'm in the business of loving you 'til you choke," do you really need more words to describe Jenny's awesome lyrical genius? The answer to that is "No". You're welcome. Check it out.

Jenny Owen Youngs performing No More Words live at City Winery NYC

The highlight of the Jenny's set (well, one of many) was an as yet unheard rendition of Clean Break. Spec-f*cking-tacular!!! It was bigger and louder and ballsier than I've ever heard it performed before. Fun breaks, big guitar flourishes, well-timed drum solos, and fat bass slaps...This version needs to be mp3'd and put up on iTunes immediately! Jenny, can you hear me?!?! This new version of awesomeness from her current release, Transmitter Failure, could only be followed by the debut album awesomeness of F*ck Was I. So, um, that's what Jenny followed it with. Next up was the super fun of Last Person...if you've not yet seen the superfun official music video, you can check it out here. What makes this song so much fun live (well, everything with Jenny involved is fun live...) was that Jenny was joined only by drummer Elliott Jacobson and bassist Chris Kuffner, so when the chorus came around, it was pretty frickin' sweeeet that a big chunk of audience joined in to fill out the call-and-response parts. Hugs, everybody. That was nice.

Jenny slowed things down a bit next with Voice On Tape, where she switched it up a little and played the accompanying bass while Chris worked it out on guitar and backing vocal. ("Oh my God! Did we just trade instruments? I didn't even notice...ha!"...oh, Jenny!) Transmitter Failure, my personal favorite off the album of the same name, came next and definitely did not disappoint. Jenny really let loose and again I wished we were in a standing sort of venue instead of a seating-with-eating sort of venue (though Jenny threw out an "Enjoy the veal, everybody!" once or twice to some well-received laughter). Jenny closed out her set with the closing track from the album, Start + Stop. The song kicked ass. Jenny thoroughly kicked ass and a good time was had by all.

By this time, we were all well-prepared for Emily Wells to work her magic (Jenny Owen Youngs warned us that we may not be prepared for how hard we would be rocked, and how melted off our faces would be..."So that'll be fun..."). Emily began by...well, by having a bunch of guys move her table of magical musical delights and other things that plug in to the front of the stage. But right after that, Emily began with an a capella version of Patti LaBelle's If You Love Me...which was great for me because I grew up on that stuff, but I got the feeling that nobody else really got it. The lingering awkwardness in the air was immediately dissipated, however, when Emily busted out her violin and started McGyvering together sound loops to create her Symphony No. 1 In The Barrel Of A Gun (to raucous applause and great joy at the front table, I might add). For those already familiar with Emily's music, this was exactly what we had been waiting for. For the uninitiated, however, it was a new experience altogether. I loved looking around and watching the faces of people who either hadn't heard Emily before or hadn't seen her perform the music live as they realised they were watching her build each symphony one instrument at a time ("Oh shit! Is that a kid's toy microphone?!"). Equally as impressive as the sheer number of instruments and gadgets laid out on her table was that, apart from being just novel, some were simply unidentifiable. There are musical geniuses, and then there are musical geniuses. And then there is Emily Wells. Emily is on some other sh*t. Period.

But moving along...Symphony No. 1 was followed with Symphony No. 4 (America's Mercy War). Next up was something I was very excited about and a few people had no idea was coming. Emily Wells does a cover of Juicy by the late, great Notorious B.I.G. that is unlike anything you've ever heard. Admittedly, pretty much everything Emily does is unlike anything you've ever, but this is even more different than all of that...which says quite a bit, I think. She even dedicated the song to Lil' Kim...See for yourself!

Emily Wells performing Juicy (cover) live at City Winery in NYC

Symphony No. 6 (Fair Thee Well & The Requiem Mix) came up next. Fans in the crowd immediately recognised the beat and Emily encouraged them to get up and shake their asses...which they did. Good times! Next she started McGyvering for Symphony No. 9 & The Sunshine...apart from a small technical snafu, it was pretty awesome.

Emily Wells performing Symphony No. 9 & The Sunshine live at City Winery NYC

The high point of Emily's set came a few songs later, however, when she performed a new song: Give Ya Everything. Described by Emily as "...probably the closest I've ever gotten to writing a gospel song - I think my mom likes it 'cause I talk about God a little." It was a bit of a departure from the songs on her current album and very warmly received. With an artist like Emily, and a live show like the one she puts on, it's very rare that you get to see her really let loose. I mean, how could she when there are innumerable music cues to attend to and pressing the wrong button at the wrong time could derail an entire evening, not to mention a single song. But Give Ya Everything was that rare moment of her live show where it actually seemed she'd forgotten about the audience for a second and was just doing whatever felt right at the time. It was a breathtaking, put ya hands up, and say Amen kinda moment. The evening came to an end with Take It Easy New York, and an audience wishing that both Jenny and Emily would play just a little bit longer.

Luckily, neither performer was too shy to hang out post-show and rub elbows with us common folk. Jenny was nice enough to chit-chat for a minute and take pics with both yours truly and my new friend Levi. Shweeeet! And just as we were getting ready to leave, I managed to catch Emily's attention, and she was also nice enough to pose for a photo. So here are those...uh hem, I've edited myself out of the photos because, despite being the only one who wasn't drinking that night, I somehow managed to be sleepy-eyed and drunk-looking in every single one. Whatever! See you at the next show!