Ventura Music Hall looks like just another storefront on the street but hides one of the city’s favorite music venues inside. Jenny Lewis opened her short West Coast Joy’all Ball Tour there, and her fans were ready for it.
Opening for Lewis was the Los Angeles trio, LA LOM (Los Angeles League of Musicians.) They rocked the house with unique music heavily influenced by African jazz and Hispanic ’60s soul and dance music.
The stage was then set for Lewis, and the audience could not wait. Lewis emerged onto the stage from the shadows and immediately opened with Tex Logan’s “Christmas Time’s A-Coming.” Lewis followed with “Psychos” from her new album, Joy’all, and “Do Si Do” from her 2019 album, On The Line.
By this time in the night, the audience had all decided they needed to be closer to Lewis and had formed a giant compressed mob flowing out of the stage. As Lewis performed “She’s Not Me” from The Voyager and “Joy’all,” a beautiful calm fell over the crowd. Then, when Lewis broke out into “Heads Gonna Roll,” the lights on the stage started dancing and changing color faster. Jenny Lewis’s energy wholly transformed into hard rock diva; the crowd matched her energy without missing a beat.
Lewis followed with a mix of songs from her five-album catalog, “Wasted Youth” and “Cherry Baby.” Next, Lewis surprised the crowd by throwing in “I Never” from Rilo Kiley’s 2004 album, More Adventurous, and it was spectacular. The set continued with “Dogwood,” “Little White Dove,” “Apples and Oranges,” “Love Feel,” “Late Bloomer,” and a cover of Girls’ 2009 album, Album, “Lust For Life.”
Lewis finished off her set with “Puppy and a Truck” and “Essence of Life” from her brand new 2023 album, Joy’All, “See Fernando” from her 2008 album, Acid Tongue, and lastly, from On The Line, “Red Bull & Hennessy.”
Lewis left the stage, and the show was over… for about 30 seconds. Of course, Jenny Lewis returned and gave the crowd two gifts before the night was over. The first gift was “Just One Of The Guys,” which was met with so much energy. The second gift was the show’s final encore, the title song from her 2008 album, “Acid Tongue.”
View the full photo gallery here.