Dinner and Destroyer: A Great Monday Night Out in L.A.

I first heard a Destroyer album around two years ago, and I was blown away after the first track.   The rest of the album did nothing to disabuse me of an entirely pleasant astonishment.  The name Destroyer, of course, conjures up thrash metal.  But here was a voice and a guitar style that echoed David Bowie's "The Man Who Sold the World" album -- one of my all time favorites.  It seems to me Dan Bejar, aka Destroyer, is what you'd guess might have resulted if early David Bowie had lain with middle-period Black Francis, while a rotating hologram of John Lennon suffused the late-evening-lit bedroom with an unearthly flicker. 

I saw Destroyer last night at the Troubadour, and it was good. 

Rock concerts, for me, have always been a more-miss-than-hit proposition.  But last night's show -- to steal a line from The Lebowski's narrator -- made me feel like I'd seen somethin' every bit as stupefyin' as them old rock n roll shows way back when... 

Jim Morrison died 4 years before I was born.  I've never seen U2.  I didn't see Page or Plant.  And I ain't never seen Mick Jagger in his damned undies.  But seeing Destroyer last night made me feel like I could die happy with a smile on my face...  Without feeling like the good lord had gipped me out of the price of a ticket... 

Before the show, we celebrated our good friends' anniversary at the laid back and delicious Trattoria Amici -- a swell Italian restaurant close to the Troubadour.  We all really enjoyed the food, and the restaurant had an outdoor seating area that was perfect for last night's comfortable evening weather.  I'd highly recommend it to anyone thinking of making an evening of it in that neighborhood.

Here's some additional Destroyer information if you're interested:
Destroyer's My Space Page
Pandora.com -- type in "Destroyer" and let it play...
Review of Destroyer's recent album by Mark Asch
Additional Asch on Destroyer at the L Magazine site

Comments

[Hans]

Don't forget the extraordinary contribution Bejar has made to the somewhat more accessible band The New Pornographers.

That being said, "Streethawk: A Seduction" is utter genius... and more listenable than Bejar's earliest work as Destroyer.