Things got off to a rough start for Jeffrey Lewis at The Freebutt. A false start from his brother Jack on bass provoked a terse response, and confusion seemed to reign over the first few songs. Things got a little tense, with “Hey Jack, what’s going on over there, can we sort this out?” and “Hey Jeff, you wanna join in and play something?” being fired either way.

The tension soon passed, with jokes from Lewis about the venue’s inconvenient pole (“when we asked for support on this tour…”).

Tracks from new album Em Are I took precedence over established songs, but were as well received as the favourites, especially Roll Bus Rol’ and the curiously upbeat sounding Broken, Broken, Broken Heart.

The warmest response, though, was reserved for a great performance of a much older song, No LSD Tonight.

There was less of a contribution from Lewis’ trademark comic book readings this time around, just a half-history of the Mayflower, which is a shame as they often prove to be highlights. All round though it was a successful show, snatched from the jaws of defeat.

Joel Gunter