Saw Belle and Sebastian and Ex Hex in Philly the other night at Union Transfer. Ex Hex recruited another bass player, and she is insanely good. It was the third time I saw them this year, and it was by far the best of the shows. Something seems to have clicked and they are really sounding terrific. Belle and Sebastian...I don't know what to say other than that was one of the best times I've had in ages. The setlist was crazy good, but I will confess that the magic of social media gave me the opportunity to request 4 songs, and ALL of them get played. I think that was just pure luck, but it was stuff they don't play often or at all. ("Seeing Other People", "Nice Day for a Sulk", "Jonathan David", and "We Are the Sleepyheads"). Other highlights were "A Century of Fakers", "The Chalet Lines", "Me and the Major", "Stars of Track and Field", and getting on stage to dance during "Legal Man" was awesome. And yeah, there's video on YouTube. They played "The Boy With the Arab Strap" as the second song, which was unusual...Stuart bitched that the barricade screwed up his plans for audience participation, but when he jumped into the audience later on and went back on stage, he got a handful of us through the stage door. Anyway, I always enjoy their shows, but this one was just off the charts fun. They all seemed to be having a fantastic time.
