Rilo Kiley's a hit at first of two NYC shows

June 2, 2008, at Terminal 5

By Lisa Murphy
Published: June 4th, 2008 | 12:45pm

The last time Rilo Kiley played NYC was at 2007’s CMJ Music Marathon where the band did the rounds in support of its first major-label release and fourth LP, Under the Blacklight (Warner Bros.) Monday night’s sold-out show was the first of two consecutive nights that the L.A. rockers played at Terminal 5.

Jenny Lewis and friends put on a lively-but-short 17-song set, if you count the three-song encore, which featured “A Better Son/Daughter” and “Portions for Foxes,” which blended into the end of “Spectacular Views.” The band looked good and sounded sleek, and as always, Lewis was adorable in a short flowered black jumper and sparkly gray tights. Both bassist Pierre De Reeder and drummer Jason Boesel donned matching outfits for the occasion, each in a white shirt, black pants and silver suspenders. As any respectable boyfriend of Winona Ryder should be, lead guitarist Blake Sennett was dressed to impress in an orange shirt with a grey vest cutely matched to the rest of the band’s ensembles. The four-piece was joined by a gorgeous-but-unidentified and somewhat elusive multi-instrumentalistwho played trumpet, keyboards, and rhythm guitar on multiple tracks then quietly vanished from view.

The crowd was into the show despite the small amount of interaction by the band, who simply seemed focused on performing and played a very sincere and energetic 90 minutes. Both Sennett and Lewis repeatedly thanked and loved the audience, with Sennett exclaiming, “All you goddamn guys are so goddamn nice!” In a nostalgic nod to the '80s, Sennett noted the venue’s Mad Max vibe, saying, “I’d love to see Mel Gibson and Tina Turner come in here and kill the shit out of each other,” before adding, “Does that mean anything to you guys?” The all-ages crowd did look a little on the younger side (under 30), which could be in part to the band’s more recent commercial success comes via song placements in such TV shows as Weeds, Grey’s Anatomy, and Nip/Tuck.

Notables from the set included an emotional rendition of “Does He Love You?” from 2004’s More Adventurous (Brute/Beaute) with Lewis saying only that “this song is about a home-wrecker” before bursting into the lyrics. Another moody favorite was “Capturing Moods” and an acoustic version of “With Arms Outstretched,” both from 2002’s The Execution of All Things (Saddle Creek). As the show winded down, “Silver Lining” saw multiple see-through giant balloons that fans happily passed around above their heads before popping them to unleash a shower of sparkly silver confetti. If only every set could be so enchanting.