Jof (lyrics, vocals) and Pete (music, instruments), the core members of The Boy Least Likely To, headlined a show at R&R last night. The two grew up together in the middle of the countryside about 40 miles north of London. This BFF dynamic was apparent on stage as they traded banter back and forth. Jof says in an English accent, "New York seems nice enough. I don't understand how it's almost summertime but there is still snow on the ground." Then Pete quips, "Oh you English, always talking about the weather." Their songs, which are filled with banjo licks, walking bass lines, and melodies from toy instruments, reflect nostalgia for their childhood and a loss of innocence. While they make the music, the live show is not all about Jof and Pete. There are five others in the band: Adam (guitar and banjo), Bish (bass), Bahar (glockenspiel, fiddle), Amanda (keyboard, recorder), and Alistair (drums). Amanda brought a bag of cupcakes to share with the crowd and one almost hit me in the head. Midway into the set, they made a false start with "Eye of the Tiger." Rocking out with sounds foreign to the show, Jof says, "Hey! Not that tiger!" and they go directly into "My Tiger My Heart." For the encore they return to the stage after lots of cheering to confess they are out of songs. But Jof says, "We are going to do 'My Tiger My Heart' again, I hope you have forgotten it." The crowd was happy to squeeze some more music out of the band and the song was as fresh as the first time they played it. Listen to or attend The Best Party Ever and you'll want to hear these songs again too.
You can catch The Boy Least Likely To at SXSW next week and as an opening act for James Blunt.
The US release of their album The Best Party Ever will come out on their own label To Young To Die and will be available April 6th.
Set list:
Hugging My Grudge / Fur Soft As Fur / Rock Up On The Porch With You / Warm Panda Cola / I See Spiders When I Close My Eyes / My Tiger My Heart / The Battle of The Boy Least Likely To / Papercuts / I'm Glad I Hitched My Apple Wagon To Your Star / Be Gentle With Me // My Tiger My Heart (heavier version)
hmm, I saw them in Boston (Allston, actually, but let's say Boston anyway...) on Thursday night and they used mostly the same antics -- there were jokes abou "Eye of the Tiger" and "Every Rose has Its Thorn", and then they played the first song again as the encore (don't know the name...)
check out their blog, I'm not sure if it's Jof or Pete, but it's at http://theboyleastlikelyto.blogspirit.com
Posted by: chris | March 13, 2006 at 12:35 AM
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that although Amanda was not eating cupcakes on stage and sharing them, she WAS eating munchkins (from Dunkin Donuts, if you're not from the northeast, they're donut-like things but small spheres) and she threw one to Adam (the guy who doesn't sing?) at one point.
Also, Pete and I think Bahar were wearing the same shirts thursday... but who wouldn't wear that stripey one all the time?
Posted by: chris | March 13, 2006 at 12:38 AM
I loved the show at R&R too. However, the jokes thing reminded me of seeing Beth Orton in New York, and then 13 months later in (Olde) York in England, and she did the same crappy joke then. Still, TBLLT were fun, and we all loved it, so who cares?
Posted by: Hamish | March 13, 2006 at 10:24 AM