Jens Lekman @ some house in Carnegie 18-09-09

So this was one of the coolest things I’ve seen all year. Also shout out to this guy for the invite. Sorry I didn’t take photos by the way because they probably would have been awesome but I haven’t had a camera in a long time.

As many Melbournites know, Jens Lekman has been hanging around in Melbourne for a while now but as far as I know, hasn’t really done any shows outside of a DJ set here and there. Luckily for some people he made his way down to the Melbourne suburb of Carnegie (yeah really, I didn’t know anything happened out there) on Friday night to play a set in some guy’s backyard. It was pretty special.

Mattresses were laid on the grass and a make shift PA was set up in someone’s very cold garden while fairy lights twinkled above us.  Jens played most of his set unplugged on a charmingly kind of out-of-tune classical guitar, instead of being stuck behind his laptop and microphone. He said he wanted to be able to “hear the trains” in the background. He played a set of old and new songs with one particular new song being  a stand out, called something along the lines of “An Argument With Myself on Elizabeth”. A witty and cute take on the good and bad parts of living in Melbourne delivered with bonus humorous actions.

The crowd helped Mr Lekman out with a version of “Kanske Är Jag Kär I Dig” providing a rousing chorus of sweet sweet melodies for him to harmonise with. Again they helped out when Jens stepped off the porch into the garden, forming a circle around him and singing along with a heartfelt version of ‘Heart on Fire”.  A perfect end to a really special night and I hope Jens finds the time to do some more shows like this around Melbourne. Thank you Mr Lekman.

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