El Perro Del Mar leads Swedish invasion of San Francisco
May 18, 2008, at Bimbo’s 365 Club
By Amy Westervelt
Published: May 20th, 2008 | 1:35pm
“Swedish bitches kick ass!”
I might have been offended by this cheer if I didn’t wholeheartedly agree. It was a mellow Sunday night at Bimbo's and folk songstress Anna Ternheim had just greeted us, “Welcome to the 'Swedish music takes over the world' tour,” after opening with a couple of good heartbreak numbers strummed on her acoustic guitar while her iPod pumped out electronic drum beats. She was kicking ass and the Swedes had just begun.
Given Ternheim’s performance and knowing that headliner El Perro Del Mar would be dropping her usual dancey '60s surf tunes, imagine my surprise when second opener Lykke Li tore the freakin’ roof off. Decked out in '70s finery, all ruffles and bell bottoms with more gold chains than I’ve seen on any MCs lately, the pint-sized Swede went from high-pitched childlike warbling reminiscent of Mum to soulful Janis Joplin-esque riffs and back again, all while doing a half march, half strut, all attitude dance around the stage and banging the crap out of a standing hi-hat with a single drumstick. When the band came back onstage for an encore she asked the crowd what they wanted and then said, “Well, I was gonna rap, but if you want a love song … maybe I’ll do both,” then followed it up with, “Yes, I can.”
She got me. I was, in fact, thinking, “Tiny Swedish girls can’t rap!” Then she jumped up on top of a speaker and proceeded to spit rhymes like she was born doing it, closing out with “Can I Kick it?” while the crowd shouted back “Yes you can!” The love song rocked, too. I think Lykke Li is headed for serious stardom, people.
El Perro Del Mar was fantastic too, as expected, although she almost seemed overshadowed by her larger-than-life opening act. She was at the top of her game and sent the crowd wild with her danceable tunes and her flute skills on “Glory to the World.” Still, the audience was at its most excited when she brought Lykke Li back out to play the piano and sing backup for a couple songs.
All I know is, I left wanting to listen to all three bands’ albums for the rest of the week. Swedish music is at the very least taking over my world.
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