The Magnetic Fields, Feb. 23, Town Hall, NYC

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The Magnetic Fields, Feb. 23, Town Hall, NYC

POSTED: Monday, February 25, 2008, 4:42 PM

Filed Under: Music Show

Flickr: guessica

Smile! No one cares how you feel.

Touring for the first time in four years, the Magnetic Fields booked four consecutive nights in their hometown but skipped Philly entirely. Can we blame them? It sorta makes sense. See, one time at a Philly show, back before 69 Love Songs, some guys threw beer bottles at Stephin Merritt’s head. They played here like two times after that. Though that's not to say Stephin acts all lovey-dovey toward his non-bottle-throwing fans. At the sold-out Town Hall, he frowns perpetually, mumbles sarcastic jokes and sticks his finger in his ear when people clap and cheer (which can look pretty weird, in conjunction with the frowny face, if you don’t know that he’s got a hearing problem that makes him hyper-sensitive to noise). The curmudgeonly stuff is half the fun; even better is Stephin’s lower-than-low voice, which sounds perfectly smooth and honeylike tonight. It’s a teeny bit disappointing that he gives away half the vocals to pianist/band manager Claudia Gonson and Shirley Simms (who sang on 69 and Distortion), since all of the best moments are Stephin’s: “Papa Was a Rodeo,” “The Book of Love,” “It’s Only Time,” “As You Turn to Go,” “When I’m Out of Town" (the last two being terrific 6ths songs that rarely get the spotlight). The band plays quiet, acoustic versions of every ditty, allowing us to hear things like amazing cello plucks and hilarious lyrics that normally get lost on the fuzzy, feedback-y Distortion. It’s not so much a rock show as a cozy little lullaby. (Too bad I am two hours from bed.)

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Featuring everything from event roundups to concert reviews and sex talk, City Paper's Critical Mass is a space for off-the-wall coverage of Philly's A&E scene.

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