Earlimart @ The Triple Door: We Saw God

But first we see Patrick Park, who is not god, but an indie-folk singer/songwriter from Los Angeles semi-famous for being played on the OC. He's got a new album out, Everyone's in Everyone, and he plays "Here We Are" and "Life's A Song" (the OC number), which are almost but not quite the singles that get the buzz really buzzing. He's a sensitive sort, if his lyrics are reflective of his outlook, and dang if he doesn't meet up with troubled women, and darn if he isn't conflicted about living in a city. In fact, he's unused to such well appointed digs as the Triple Door and comments on it repeatedly. We're struck by how he insisted -- as a songwriter -- in writing for the upper limit of his vocal range as a singer, where he strains and lets the tension bleed off the notes he can't hold.

But then Earlimart [MySpace] takes over, sounding like Grandaddy's Postal Service, with lush orchestration. And what's when we saw god, or Jesus, specifically. It was just one of those nights where you're feeling it, and you look around and everyone else has that same bright-eyed look, and then you see Jesus working on a plate of perfectly crispy Sichuan green beans, giving his server an A-OK sign. "7.2 on Pitchfork!" Jesus says. "I loves me my rainy-day pop!" Earlimart plays the romantic swoon "Answers and Questions" [over here], they play the uptempo "Everybody Knows Everybody," they make us all sigh miserably with "Don't Think About Me" -- they've got the knack down of kicking a song off with a quiet verse, then bringing in the drums. They're backed by the Dream String Team, giving them a big 9-piece sound. It's our companion's first time at the Triple Door, and she loves it -- "This is so fabulous," she says, bouncing a little on her seat. "Normally you're at a show and you're standing and you're mildly uncomfortable -- and that's not even counting this incredible freaking banana split!" (The secret is the gelato from Gelatiamo.) Earlimart nears the last song and Jesus hops up on his chair: "You're all coming with, come the Rapture! Anybody who missed tonight -- fuck 'em!" Which, as we thought about it, was no more arbitrary than other religious proclamations, but the waitstaff makes him get back down and we notice they won't refill his wine glass, even after he waves it upside down conspicuously. Still, the announcement makes the encore particularly sweet -- Earlimart don't even make us wait that long before trooping back out.