Sabato 10 Mag 2008, 2:50

Fri 9 May – An Evening with El Perro Del Mar & Lykke Li with Special Guest Anna Ternheim

A couple of months ago, I found out that Anna Ternheim would be performing in Boston, opening for El Perro Del Mar, and a certain someone named Lykke Li, whoever the hell she was. I was so excited about seeing Anna perform, since she's one of my favorite singer songwriters, and because I had missed El Perro Del Mar the last time she was in town, and I had tickets, too. I think Under Byen and Frida Hyvönen were opening, and I also desperately wanted to see Under Byen and I couldn't because I was busy. That was so not fair. The funny thing about all this is that I didn't even like El Perro Del Mar that much even a few weeks ago, but that's another story.

Now, Lykke Li had been popping up on various people's last.fm profiles, and so that got me curious and invariably took me to Little Bit. Let's just say I think it's the best song I've heard in ages.

Fast forward a few weeks later, Lykke Li, Anna Ternheim, & El Perro Del Mar being #2, #3, and #4 on my last.fm profile, I went to this show. If my expectations were exorbitant, they had to be, right?

So yeah, I was a bit disappointed by Anna. I've seen her youtubes and she's been better. I think lot of it has to do with her songs being often very lushly orchestrated and such and a solo performance is not the ideal way to hear her songs. I mean, she sounded great, it's just I've heard better from her. I also didn't know a few of the songs, which surprised me a bit. She was adorable, though, smiling and bowing between songs.

Then Lykke Li took stage, of course. How cute is Lykke Li, by the way? Other than the obvious highlights, I thought her rendition of Tonight was especially moving. She was so good! I've seen live videos of her on youtube and this was easily more energetic than any of those. After her set, I spied her next to the merch table. I had to talk to her, right? I expressed some disappointment that she was only selling the single and not the album. Eventually, she hugged me and signed my Lykke Li t-shirt. That pretty much made my life.

I almost felt bad that El Perro Del Mar had to take the stage after that. But you know, Ms. Sarah Assbring (I had to say it) was nothing but astounding. She pretty much melted everyone's hearts, if I may speak for others as well as myself. The best parts were when she was joined on stage by Lykke Li. Their voices just worked so well together. Lykke and Sarah's cover of "After Laughter (Comes Tears)" was so beautiful, I don't know. And it was kind of awesome that they were pressured into an extra encore. Inner Island was a perfect way to wrap up the night.

And after the show, I spied Anna sitting by herself and I mustered the courage to go speak to her. Jesus, is that woman tall. I kind of felt like an idiot because I generally do when I speak to really tall women. I think I got the point across, though, that she's amazing, I love her music, and that she should be around more often. You know, she's a great songwriter with a great voice and an even better smile. Some people just have it all. So yeah, if I was a bit disappointed by Anna's set, this made up for it.

In the end, best show I've ever been to? Yeah, probably. These people need to come back more often. Swedes rule at pop.