The Magnetic Fields – The Assembly, Leamington Spa 21/03/2010

-

Opening with 69 Love Songs classic, ‘Kiss Me Like You Mean It’, sung by Shirley Simms over a sparse auto harp and synth accompaniment, you know straight from the word go this is going to be a wonder of a gig. As the first half of the show develops the hushed, low-lit theatre crowd are treated to a veritable greatest hits set of material drawn from across the band’s 20 plus years writing and recording under the Magnetic Fields moniker. A high point of the opening half is ‘Shipwrecked’, a track from the MF side project Gothic Archies album The Tragic Treasury: Songs From A Series of Unfortunate Events. The story of being shipwrecked is full of some vintage Merritt couplets… “You needn’t do much, just sit there and flirt and if it looks drizzly, I’ll build us a yurt.”

Alongside tracks taken from albums right back to the very beginnings of the band, material from the latest record, Realism, takes up a significant portion of the set list. Album opener, ‘You Must Be Out Of Your Mind’, a paen to an ex who just won’t take the hint, is Wildean pop perfection par excellence, “I want you crawling back to me down on your knees yeah, like an appendicectomy, sans anaesthesia”. The delicate instrumentation of this line up is perfect. Long time Magnetic Fields collaborator Shirley Simms is along for the tour on autoharp, Claudia Gonson sometimes chimes in with her simple syntheziser, John Woo is superbly deft on acoustic guitar and Sam Davol’s masterful yet restrained cello work all contribute to a richly textured instrumental bed that sometimes get augmented by Stephin strumming at his trusty ukulele. Vocals are shared between Stephin’s drawling baritone and the cooing, country twang of Claudia and Shirley. Everything is understated, yet they engage with the material with endless creativity, breathing a unique personality and character into each and every piece. The musicianship is nimble, accomplished and everyone is playing totally for the song, with never a hint of ostentatiousness or over exuberance.

Delivered in person by Merritt et al the tracks take on an even starker directness. Merritt’s acerbic sarcasm and sometimes delicately brutal put downs are balanced by the almost wide eyed romanticism and fairy tale stories of the much of the material. Also, the perfect counter point to Stephin’s curmudgeonly stage persona is the soft, Americana lilt of Claudia and Shirley.

Stripped of all it’s electronica embellishment, high point of 1995’s Get Lost, ‘All The Umbrellas In London’, is gorgeous in it’s emotional directness and instrumental simplicity. Similarly, ‘Born On A Train’ from 1994’s The Charm Of The Highway Strip really benefits from an organic, acoustic reinterpretation, allowing the strength of the arrangement, melodies and lyrics shine through. Other Magnetic Fields classics such as ‘Luckiest Guy On The Lower East Side’ and ‘I Don’t Want To Get Over You’ are rendered note perfect. The banter from Merritt is somewhat terse however. It’s clear, just from the way Merritt says ‘We Are Having A Hootenany’, that playing live is not his favourite thing. Which is a shame because the two Magnetic Fields shows I’ve had the fortune to experience have been up there with the greatest gigs I’ve witnessed. Closing the set with a quietly majestic ‘From A Sinking Boat’ and a superbly low key ‘Papa Was A Rodeo’ it’s a quiet victory for a thinking (wo)man’s chamber pop ensemble. Long may they continue.