The Section Quartet’s orchestral covers in the dark

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[Freelance entertainment writer Pamela Chelin reports on Tuesday night’s proceedings at Largo at the Coronet:]

thesectionquartet2By Pamela Chelin

It was an eclectic blend of laughs and earnestness on Tuesday night at Largo with Los Angeles’ hardest-rocking string players, the Section Quartet. The group (violinists Eric Gorfain and Marina Kuney, violist Daphne Chen and cellist Richard Dodd) has collaborated with some of the giants of pop and live by the mantra “We’re interpreting rock, not Rachmaninoff.” And so it was as they welcomed a bevy of guests to the intimate La Cienega Boulevard theater.

After opening the night with gorgeous Radiohead and Muse covers, including “Time’s Running Out” and “Street Spirit Fade Out,” Grant Lee Phillips joined the foursome to perform his sweet and soulful “Raise The Spirit.” Following Phillips, another Phillips – Sam – emerged to deliver her stunning “Edge Of The World” before covering Tom Waits’ “Green Grass,” which the songstress introduced with a wry sense of humor: “I heard this next song and I thought, ‘A white girl should sing that.’ And, a white girl actress did, but I would like to sing it, too.”

Intermittently throughout the evening, performer Dave “Gruber” Allen blended stand-up comedy (like a skit of a giant ordering coffee at Starbucks) with music, including an ironic – given the performer’s towering height – cover of Randy Newman’s “Short People.” Introducing what is perhaps the most bizarre musical genre to date, balloon master Addi manipulated 3 balloons into a makeshift bass that he strummed furiously, leaving the initially confused audience both charmed and impressed by his song “Juicy Brunette,” which he had written for his wife.

Returning the evening to a more serious tone, Rob Dickinson delivered a passionate version of his song “Oceans,” followed by Peter Gabriel’s ode to Anne Sexton, “Mercy Street.” Largo legend Jon Brion, the only musician to play guitar along with the Section Quartet, closed out the evening with the Kinks’ “Waterloo Sunset” and the Mamas and the Papas “California Dreamin'” – which, in atypical L.A. fashion, became an enthusiastic sing-along, with the entire audience and Grant Lee Phillips and Dickinson joining in onstage.

The most remarkable instrumental tune of the night was the Section Quartet’s haunting version of “Grace,” which, one could swear, conjured the ghost of the late Jeff Buckley.

The audience wanted more, remaining in their seats after the stage emptied, but violist Chen came out to say the show was officially over. Those, she joked, were all the songs they knew. Not likely, but they were enough on this night.