She & Him 7-25-08

Trocadero Theatre · Philadelphia, PA

BY ZACHARY HERRMANN

Hell hath no fury like melting hipsters in the Philadelphia summer heat. To be fair, getting trapped in the sweltering Trocadero Theatre – one hell of a venue until August creeps up – can have a miserable effect on the collective audience disposition. The fans (flesh and machine alike) recycle the balmy air over and over until you’ve soaked in every last bit of your neighbor’s last breath.

Someone should have told opening band Freakwater that lazy, cowboy country ballads just don’t play well in that sort of environment. As one fan remarked, “They should have opened with something a little zippier.”

Even a brief appearance by Him (M. Ward) barely broke up the mid-paced Appalachian monotony.

But less than a half-hour later, zippy arrived, bouncing across the stage in a shimmering baby blue dress and matching headband. She (Zooey Deschanel) had even the most cynical members of the sold out crowd won over from the second she stepped out into the light, from the quiet first lines of “Black Hole” to the smashing girl-group homage of “Sweet Darlin’”.

The appreciation and admiration – one fan threw a mix-tape on to the stage while declaring his love – hasn’t gotten to Deschanel’s head. Despite her Hollywood status, she remains a very humble if slightly timid performer. On only the third night of her first proper tour, Deschanel wore a deer-in-headlights look for a sizeable chunk of the show, later managing a smile here and there. By the finale her nerves calmed completely as she bounced up and down riding out the energy of the band’s last stretch. (What can I say, she’s slightly…scratch that, overwhelmingly adorable.)

Where her stage presence is still developing, Deschanel’s voice is irreproachable. She has a far greater range than is immediately evident on She & Him debut Volume One, with the ability to do great justice to Sam Cooke (a slow burning “Bring It On Home To Me”), Joni Mitchell (“You Turn Me On, I’m A Radio”) and Smokey Robinson (“You Really Got A Hold On Me”). She channels Loretta Lynn on “Got Me” and Ronnie Spector on “I Was Made For You” but at the end of the day, Deschanel possesses more than enough talent and charm to continue carving out her own distinct musical identity.

Although She clearly comes before Him, Deschanel’s shadowy counterpart, Ward, deserves his due. During the concert he was mostly business, only mustering a smile or two of his own during the closer, but Ward’s versatility and musical diversity helps drive the strong She & Him touring band.

During an early acoustic block, the backing band cleared the stage for Deschanel and Ward, leaving She and Him to compete with the low hum of the high-mounted fans. Overcoming the technical difficulties plaguing the first four songs – the mix was terrible until an audience member yelled out to Deschanel, “We can’t hear you Zoey!” – the two artists worked their way into the hushed mini-set.

But where Freakwater could not get a foothold, She & Him held the audience in the palm of its hand. By the time the rest of the band returned, the show was set. “Got Me” stretched out into a woozy, little jam, Ward tore through his leads on a sped-up “Why Do You Let Me Stay Here,” and “This Is Not A Test” had the entire Troc joining in with hand-claps.

Although the three encore songs were definite crowd-pleasers – Ward pulled out “Magic Trick” (from his 2006 album Post-War) and Freakwater joined in for The Carter Family’s “Hello Stranger” – She & Him peaked at the set-ending “Sweet Darlin.” Moving more of the crowd to dancing and bobbing than they had the whole night, the band’s sparser take on Volume One’s other nod to Phil Spector recalled a time when sugary-sweet pop songs were crafted, not manufactured.

With Deschanel sliding next to Ward on the piano bench for the song’s crescendo, it almost felt like the audience had invaded a private family moment – brother and sister banging away on the piano, each feeding off the other’s energy and talent. Though She & Him currently lacks enough material to push past an hour-long concert, the promise (and hunger) for more is there. Chemistry this good just can’t be faked, even with an actress in tow.