The thing with Mark Eitzel's solo performances is that you never can predict what he's going to get up to. The last couple of times I've seen him he's been in solo acoustic mode, constantly putting himself down for fluffing the odd line and bemoaning his lack of band. Tonight however, he's back with a full band, performing the electronica flavoured tunes from his new album 'The Invisible Man'. I've always maintained that electronica and alt.country aren't that odd a combination, and I'm really happy to see someone combining the two.
A good, bad or indifferent Eitzel show largely depends on the great man's mood, and tonight he's happy and relaxed. This turns out to be one of the best shows I've seen him do, and although he mostly concentrates on the new album, a couple of American Music Club songs appear at the end. His songwriting seems to have hit form too, judging by newer tunes like 'The Boy With the Hammer and the Paper Bag'. The always gorgeous 'Firefly' is a welcome close to the set and a classic Eitzel moment happens when he comes back alone for the encore and can't get any sound out of his amp. After about a minute his sound guy (who I think was Vudi from AMC) comes over and turns up the volume knob on his guitar - doh! - and then he plays 'I've Been a Mess'! Just great, really.
