written by Chris Familton

Eels returned to Sydney on a three album streak within one year and as they have evolved Mark Everett has continued to expand his melancholic songwriting into different areas. Which incarnation would we get tonight then? The answer was all of them.

Laura Imbruglia had opening honours and did a great job at maintaining the attention of the audience with just a guitar and her voice to serenade them. Her songs carry equal amounts of sly humour and intriguing melodies, much in the way that someone like Evan Dando weaves the two together. The subject matter is often about boyfriends and references to dogs seemed to pop up often. With her last few songs featuring a guest mandolin player there was an added country feel to her songs which worked well. As an opening act she filled her obligations more than adequately.

Eels have a pretty dapper stage manager that spent a while scurrying around the stage before the grand entrance of an even more fastidiously attired E. In white shirt and trousers, dark sunglasses and a gangster bandanna surrounding the now permanent beard he cut a mysterious figure – somewhere between southern redneck, sonic terrorist and a South Central homie.

As soon as he began to sing any fear of eccentricity outweighing the music was immediately allayed. His voice was clear and loud coming out of the Enmore’s fine PA and you could hear those world-weary creaks and rattles that characterise his sad singing voice. Everett began with a couple of solo tracks (Grace Kelly Blues) and Little Bird from his most recent End Times album before he was joined by the rest of his sartorial band.

The power and crunch of the full-band Eels was staggering. They were all exceptional players that could switch from pure rock n roll to hard funk, dark balladry and beyond – all on the edge of a coin. Classic Eels tracks like Dog Faced Boy and Souljacker Part 1 were monstrous displays of anthemic rock that dispelled the stereotype of a po-faced depressed troubadour – in fact Everett seemed completely at ease on stage, probably a result of the character-creating outfit he was wearing/hiding behind.

A couple of covers featured in the set. Early on the band played a furiously funky version of The Lovin’ Spoonful’s Summer In The City that reminded what a brilliant song it is. Later they played a cover of sorts by fusing Mr E’s Beautiful Blues and The Beatles’ Twist and Shout to glorious effect with the crowd joining in with the yells and screams. The third cover came in the form of a latin/Vegas styled version of Summertime with E dropping to one knee, jogging on the spot and being the consummate tongue in cheek entertainer.

What impressed tonight was the sense of adventure and pushing against stereotype, the exceptional playing and the near perfect sound mix. Eels exceeded expectations and delivered a wonderfully paced set that covered a range of styles without playing early hits like Susan’s House and Novocaine For The Soul and went a long way toward promoting the genius status that E’s fans passionately proclaim.

This review first appeared on The Dwarf