Revenge of the Book Eaters @ Beacon Theater

Last night [August 26th] was such a great event at Beacon Theater. Revenge of the Book Eaters is a charity event to benefit 826NYC, which is an organization that helps students with their writing needs. The line-up last night was fantastic, and the show flowed really nicely. Starting at a little after 7PM, the show ended at 945PM. Perfect for a Sunday night.


Demetri Martin was the host for the evening. His jokes are always so random, and there's no transition between one joke and the next, but he makes me laugh. The first performer up last night was AC Newman (New Pornographers). He went through a set of 4 or 5 songs, of which my favorite were "Challengers" and King Missile cover of "The Hemophiliac of Love."

Next up was Grizzly Bear. I hadn't seen them before last night, which I now really regret, because they are amazing. Their music is really intense and haunting, and they put on an equally intense and haunting performance. The highlights of their set for me were "Knife" and "Marla," a song written by Ed Drost's great-aunt in the 1930s. Feist also came on to sing a short song with them, and then Grizzly Bear closed with a cover of Paul Simon's "Graceland."

Jim James (My Morning Jacket) then came out, and started off with "What A Wonderful Man." He played mostly on acoustic guitar, but for a couple songs played on a white instrument, and I couldn't figure out what it was. Some kind of synthesizer maybe? Anyway, it was such a cool instrument. I need one.

Then there was a little break in the music and Sarah Vowell came out to tell us more about 826NYC. She showed us a couple trailers from the summer filmmakers series that they have, and then Eugene Mirman, Demetri Martin and Leo Allen came out and did a little sketch of Tutored George Washington vs. Un-tutored George Washington.

Later, Feist came on again and read a few stories written by students at 826NYC, then she performed "The Water," which was really beautiful.

Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning were up next, and performed two songs just on piano and guitar: "Fucked Up Boy" and "Superconnected." Apparently, they originally thought they were performing at a church in Brooklyn last night, so they were a little unprepared.

Closing the night was Britt Daniels (Spoon). I thought Britt was a great closer, as he can really take command of the stage. He opened with "I Summon You" and then sang "Black Like Me." Then AC Newman came out again, and he and Britt sang a song together. Anyone know what that was? I can't remember.

So to sum it all up, last night was a really solid evening of great performances. I couldn't have asked for anything better.

Pics via TammyLo on flickr.