The Magnetic Fields Stop Being Polite and Start Getting Realism

The male portion of The Magnetic Fields. Photo by joshc.

It's hard to know what to make of these Magnetic Fields. They are a completely non-dynamic band who somehow have a strong stage presence. Singer-songwriter Stephin Merritt is at times downright captivating, though he is also dour and morose. Sure, at Town Hall last night he had a cold, but when I saw him five years ago, he also had a cold then. I think it's safe to say he officially has the consumption. That would make me a little grumpy too.

They're all Stephin's songs, of course. He's got twenty-three or so albums under a variety of monikers (among them Future Bible Heroes, The 6ths, and The Gothic Archies), nine as The Magnetic Fields. Assuredly, at the second Seattle show tonight (some tix still available on Craigslist), he will have a completely different set list.  Last night's crowd got a few from 69 Love Songs, some from i, and plenty from the latest album Realism, the companion to 2008's Distortion. But we also got the b-sides and varieties: one of his Lemony Snicket songs, one of his Hans Christian Andersen songs, two Pieces of April songs, and "100,000 Fireflies," the band's first single. 

Even when you don't know one of Merritt's songs--and it's near impossible to know them all--the wit and precision of his language always draws you in. A Magnetic Fields crowd is a good crowd. The Venn diagram between an NPR audience and a Magnetic Fields show has a high degree of overlap, and both groups feel the need to laugh outloud to show just how much they get all the jokes. A Merritt crowd has the olds and the youngs, the gays and the straights, and nary a brown person to be seen. Compared to your average show, last night was well-organized, with the bands performing on time, and even an intermission halfway through the headlining set. How civilized.

The Magnetic Fields are all about the lyrics, so their live show doesn't feature much by way of accompaniment. Just the two ladies (Shirley Simms and Claudia Gorson) offering up vocals, keyboards, and autoharp (which wasn't really working, right?), Sam Devol on cello, John Woo on guitar. And then Stephin's ukelele and deep buttery baritone. Out of the girl-led songs, I like Shirley Simms' best, her plaintive voice taking center stage on Distortion's "The Nun's Litany" as well as the more country-twinged songs. Claudia has the task of banter, since it ain't gonna be coming from Stephin. Their onstage relationship oscillates between affection and irritation; so Claudia introduces the songs, gives factoids, and start stories that Stephin may or may not finish, while Stephin occasionally mutters a droll comment.

The opening act was Mark Eitzel of American Music Club, who also kept things lo-fi with only one guy playing with him on guitar and vocals. Eitzel opened with "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" and then got autobiographical with the drugged tourist fantasy "The Windows on the World" and his ode to Gena Rowlands, "What Holds the World Together." His powerful vocals barely needed a microphone, and compared to the Magnetic Fields, he offered up a lot more energy and spontaneity.