Photo: not from Portland

…and we just keep stomping along.

JENS LEKMAN - Berbati’s Pan, March 24th.

As previously noted lots of great shows keep stacking up on the same nights. Sometimes you’re forced to choose, and sometimes you run like hell from one to the next.

Mick Jones ended on the early side on Monday and it left me in a good mood. I wanted more. Thankfully, another European had taken to the stage a bit later. When I arrived the doorman told me the Swedish pop-sweetheart Jens Lekman was only three or four songs into his set.

Unfortunately that meant missing one of the hits, "Opposite of Halleluah," but there was still plenty of swirl left. Most of the songs in Lekman's set drew from Night Falls Over Kortedala, with a few extras thrown in (most noteably, "Maple Leaves", which has been slightly reworked since Lekman has embraced electronic instrumentation).

There's some added value in seeing Jens live, and not just in gazing at his all-girl backing-band (there's one other guy running the laptop, who Ezra said "looks like a butler"). Jens peppers the story-songs with added depth. There'll be a spoken set-up that leads into the song, sometimes with backing music and sometimes without. Lekman has a good, cute sense of comic timing and a playful, perhaps fabricated bashfulness. The tales provide extra insight to the songs they accompany.

And while Jens tells these sweet, quirky tales of life and love in uniquely European settings, he becomes the exchange student you always wanted. His funny, slightly skewed and sometimes awkward take on things seems so right (gotta love that foreign perspective). You want to put him in your pocket. Take him in, drink wine and play songs. And in a couple of years, you travel to Sweden and he returns the favor.

This was the second time I'd seen Lekman, and for the second time the show was sold out. The first was at Someday Lounge, which probably fits twice inside Berbati's. It seems that Jens' personality, under-control playing, and dinner-table storytelling are best suited for smaller venues. More than most performers, Jens makes a personal, friend-like connection with the audience. The closer you are, the easier that is to achieve.

The demand for Jens is high, and it would seem he's been touring pretty hard to fulfill it. He appeared slightly worn out, at least, in comparison to the first time I saw him. With his show, it's understandable. The stories and jokes he shared were performed pretty much verbatim from the previous show I saw a few months ago. That's not easy. It's more than just playing the same songs over and over. Add to that the static tempos created by the laptop backing, and the fact that Lekman is not totally burned out is testament to his vigor.

Laptop tracks accounted for a vast array of Lekman's backing, his instrument toting band notwithstanding. The bass and drum hits, and even some guitar were doubled by the computer, the players contributing as much or more to mood than as were to sound, however the live strings (cello and violin) provide an important emotional impact.

It would take a lot of overhead and some seriously killer players, but if Jens were to assemble a full band to make all the sounds coming from the laptop he might be able to pull of some ridiculously amazing, stadium style shows. It could really be something.

That said, the show's high point came during the encore when Jens emereged to play sans band. He did two fabulous tracks. The first, which was unfamiliar to me, was performed with Jens on the mbiria (African thumb piano) and the two string players. The mbira tone was beautiful and meshed with the strings to create a soundscape all its own. The second and final song, "Shirin," Lekman performed all by his lonesome. Here, with just his guitar, Lekman's bright, sumptuous voice truly soared. In the midst of the set, sharing the air with so many other sounds, it isn't quite as obvious just how talented Lekman is. But in the clear sky, it becomes apparent-he's got one hell of a voice. Almost angelic.

And with that, we all floated off.

COMING TOMORROW, CAPPING REVIEW WEEK: JUSTICE