Soho Santa Barbara, in conjunction with Club Mercy, rose to the occasion for a second straight night, with the appearance of Jason Lytle. After a packed, and rather vocal, house for Beth Orton the previous night, this show was criminally ill-attended, and it was totally their loss. Lytle seemed to dispense with a set list, making it up as he went, and pulled off what turned out to be a very special night. The maximum number of people I counted over the course of the night was 18, but they were blessed, as Lytle gave stunning renditions of tracks from his brand new LP, Dept. Of Disappearance, the previous Yours Truly, The Commuter, as well as grabbing Grandaddy tracks from his past, and throwing in a breathtaking, (and relevant), cover of the Beach Boys "In My Room". It was nice to finally see Grandaddy back in August, and lay that particular ghost to rest. Grandaddy favorites included "Jed's Other Poem (Beautiful Ground)" and "Underneath The Weeping Willow" from Sophtware Slump, as well as "I'm On Standby" from Sumday. Working with only one other player, he worked on guitar and keyboards, occasionally switching off to a piano.
To see Lytle unleash one of his finest works, and then see it performed in a small club is the veritable frosting on the cake. Rather then dwell on the town folk who couldn't get up off it for this show, I'd rather shine a light on the two youngsters who drove all the way up from LA just for this! Hopefully, their memories of the show rival mine. One of the benefits of the sparse turnout, however, was the ability to curl up at the foot of the stage, and when Lytle's keyboards were at full burble, it was like being inside your own spaceship.
Opening the show, and setting the tone for the whole evening with a heartfelt performance in front of even less people, was Sea Of Bees. The Sacramento based project is masterminded by multi-instrumentalist Jules, and onstage was joined by Amber for thrilling harmonies. "Gone" and "Take" from the current LP, Orangefarben were the highlights of the night. Next up for them is a trip to the U.K.
Jason Lytle: Dept. Of Disappearance-out now on Anti-
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