Julie Carpenter

You never know what you'll get when you attend an Eels concert. One year it's vocoders and synthesizers, the next it's gritty garage rock. Cut to 2005: Eels leader Mark Oliver Everett, aka E, releases the highly acclaimed Blinking Lights and Other Revelations double album and assembles his most ambitious version of the EELS yet: a seven piece band consisting of Everett backed by a string quartet and two multi-instrumentalists juggling lap steel, guitar, upright bass, mandolin, saw, melodica, celeste, pump organ, piano, and a trash can and suitcase drum set. Having brought this elaborate show to Boston the night before, can the Eels get to New York, play Late Night with David Letterman, and perform their concert at the legendary Town Hall, which is being filmed for a concert film -- all with grace under incredible pressure? The answer is yes, and the proof is here!