she + him = shim? sham?

She & Him - 9:30 Club - July 7, 2010

Okay, that's unnecessarily mean.  She and Him sounded great last night at the 9:30 Club.  Zooey Deschanel is apparently more than a cute face: she's got a sweet voice that translates very well to the live stage.  

But it was pretty sterile otherwise. 

She bopped around tapping a tambourine for the few glimpses I caught of her (I rarely see the club that packed, my usual places all taken!), said one or two words to the crowd ("I've never been to DC before," "you want some more?  okay we'll give you some more")... and that's pretty much it.  Anytime M. Ward got on the mic the club flipped--apparently he has a hearty DC following.

Otherwise, there really wasn't much chemistry on stage between anyone.  It felt like a band assembled for a movie, the kind where you'd buy the soundtrack to add the fake band's hard-to-find songs to a road trip mix, but you wouldn't expect to see them live, nor would you pay to do so.


That being said, I enjoyed myself enough.  I did the "washing machine" more times than I can count.

Check out my scorecard for a more thorough review.  And check out Click Track for some awesome pics... because really, the show is all about looksies.

Setlist after the jump

1. Change Is Hard 
2. I Thought I Saw Your Face Today 
3. I Was Made For You 
4. Black Hole 
5. Thieves 
6. Lingering Still 
7. Me and You 
8. Take It Back 
9. Sing 
10. Ridin' in My Car (NRBQ cover) 
11. Over It Over Again 
12. You Really Got a Hold on Me (The Miracles cover) 
13. Brand New Shoes 
14. You Turn Me On, I'm a Radio (Joni Mitchell cover) 
15. Wouldn't It Be Nice 
16. Sentimental Heart 
17. Magic Trick (M. Ward cover) 
18. Gonna Get Along Without You Now (Skeeter Davis cover) 
19. In the Sun 
20. Don't Look Back 
21. This Is Not a Test 
22. Why Do You Let Me Stay Here? 

Encore:

23. Fools Rush In (Ricky Nelson cover) 
24. Rave On! (Sonny West cover) 
25. Sweet Darlin'