Peter Kelly, aka Beerjacket, opens up for Mark Eitzel tonight, just as he did 20 years ago. He admits in one of his frequent asides that he credits Eitzel with showing him the power and versatility of the acoustic guitar (shaking him out of a grungey haze in the early ’90s). So it’s a special evening and Kelly does not disappoint, demonstrating his own mastery of the instrument, plucked, picked or strummed, along with a bit of foot drumming for good measure. ‘Muscle’ and ‘Two Travel’ are particular highlights, making clear the earned comparisons to Elliot Smith. These and other soaring anthems are met with polite applause that’s a little shy of what such a charming, entertaining and well-rounded performance deserves.
Eitzel ambles onstage with a cheesy grin and warm greetings, cutting short one of his many shaggy-dog tales to launch into ‘Sleep’ the opener from The Invisible Man, his brilliant 2001 album. His vocals have weathered over the last forty-odd years, his howling croon gaining some raggedy edges that suits his stark tales of love, losers and holding on to little victories when you can. He speaks with typical candidness between songs: he cracks jokes about his hippy-tinged California lifestyle, admits that he misses his dog much more than his husband, and talks frankly about junkie friends, his abusive parents and his sister’s suicide. The depth of his feeling is exposed right before our eyes, almost uncomfortably close at times.
The first half of the set is mostly solo material, while the back half focuses on American Music Club; “don’t worry, I’m gonna play the ones you came to hear” he glibly notes about the midway point. ‘An Answer’ and ‘Nothing And Everything’ are the two most recent (from 2017’s ‘Hey Mr Ferryman’), and they shine when shorn of the stuffy production of that album. The former in particular showcases a earnest acceptance in the possibility of finding love that earlier songs that would have shrouded in cynicism or despair.
‘Why Won’t You Stay’ from 1991’s underrated ‘Everclear’ appears early and hints at what Stephen Merritt may owe to Eitzel’s deep pangs of emotion, his ability to hold a note and suffuse it with feeling is unparalleled. ‘Outside This Bar’ is almost 40 years old and its closing line – “together we’ll turn this love into violence” – still feels dangerous, but the radiance that Eitzel exudes when not entering into a dark night of the soul is happily at odds with the volatile young man he once was.
A trio of songs from the seminal ‘California’ close the evening, ending as that album does with the gorgeous ‘Last Harbor.’ Its questioning lyrics and desperate, yearning tone align with what Eitzel is still looking for after all these years: love and acceptance. His gleeful demeanour, obvious joy in what he does and the adoration of the packed Cottier’s Theatre may go some way to suggesting that maybe he’s found it.
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