Toronto – The thing about seeing an Eels concert is you’re never quite sure what version of the band you’re going to get. It could be a string augmented, acoustic-based band or it could be a stripped down rock trio. It could even feature one member simply standing onstage without an instrument, dancing wildly and shouting non-sequiturs into the mic, as I witnessed at a previous Eels show a few years back. But on this occasion, Eels took the form of what would probably best be described as their version of a rock n’ soul revue. The entire band, including a horn section, were clad in suits and sunglasses. And beards! Eels are one of the most impressively bearded bands I have ever seen. They delivered an upbeat, fun set of tunes from throughout their career, many of them rearranged to fit the band’s current live sound.
Frontman E was in pretty good spirits, shouting out things like “Refreshing!” and “That was very positive!” after songs and joking about how he thought he was in New Mexico in February rather than Toronto in the summer before the band launched into a proper summer song, a solid version of Sly and the Family Stone’s “Hot Fun In The Summertime.” Another highlight was a punky version of “I Like Birds,” which I didn’t even recognize at first, but it sounded just as good as the original recorded version. Maybe better.
On a side note, I’d like to point out that before entering, I noticed not one but two huge tour buses parked outside of the venue. Granted, there are currently seven members of Eels, but it still doesn’t seem like they would require that much space. I’m not sure why I’m pointing this out, but I thought it was interesting. Nice to see Eels doing their part to support the tour bus industry.