She & Him @ Webster Hall

She & Him; Ola Podrida
@ Webster Hall
New York, NY - April 22, 2008

Where there is chaos there is opportunity and so despite selling out two shows in seconds at the tiny Hiro Ballroom, the apparent laryngitis plauging the lead singer resulted in a one night stand at Webster instead with extra tickets to sell.
Our Man Ward and His Gal Friday Zooey Deschannel offer us She & Him, a sweet-as-home-baked-chocolate-chip-cookies revue of 60's-flavored Country, Soul, and R&B. Though she could not speak, Zooey sang delicately and nimbly, and her charm was infectious. She was doe-eyed and smiling, and sporting signs to thank the crowd and all that jazz. Matt sang back up on all but his own song, the superb "One Magic Trick" from Post-War, and he was having a good time, relieved it seemed from being the sole center of attention.
The Country side of things proved to be a little dull and fractured, but the Soul and R&B components were ace perfect (the big exception in the country realm is the excellent "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?"). Zooey's voice, despite this night belonging to a dolly dressed up like a pre-fame Loretta Lynn, is more attuned to classic elements of Jazz and Blues, than that style of country. In other words, she's more Memphis than Nashville. The cover of "You Really Got A Hold On Me" brought that Smokey Robinson classic to the very stripped down goose-bump-giving core of that song, a song that best exemplified that mix of Northern orchestral Pop and Southern Soul. "Bring It On Home To Me", their other cover of note for the night, was just a few minutes of bliss in an otherwise crazy world. And to bring it back to that theme of chaos and opportunity, that's really what She & Him are all about - a chance to take a breath in an increasingly maddening and loud society.

Ola Podrida were absolutely boring Country-Folk Pop.