Kevin Bronson on April 18th, 2011

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Who: Elbow in the Mojave Tent
In 3 or Fewer Words: Gracious goodness.
I’ll Remember This Until: The next Mercury Prize winner I see blows me away. The elegant orchestral anthems of Elbow felt like gorgeous landscape paintings in a sea of graffiti in the early-evening heat, but despite competing electricity from Electric Touch and loogies from Laidback Luke in neighboring tents, Guy Garvey was undeterred. The gentlemanly frontman of the long-running Manchester band, which continues to be largely underappreciated in the U.S. despite winning the Mercury Prize for 2008’s “The Seldom Seen Kid,” was as affable as could be, joking about how the weather was affecting his “fair English skin,” and asking the the crowd in the stifling tent, “Could everybody take a deep breath for me?” Elbow’s music, including material off the new “Build a Rocket Boys!,” provided some air, making sunset almost choral. Garvey might look more like an encyclopedia salesman than a rock frontman, but for 45 minutes Saturday his band wrote the book on grace.
What I’d Tell a Friend Who Was at Electric Touch: It’s all about feel.
– K.B.
Photo by Scott Dudelson