Jim Jarmusch concert: June 10, 2025

I heard Jim Jarmusch in concert at Le Poisson Rouge on June 10, 2025. Jarmusch is one of my favorite filmmakers, I think I've seen almost all of his movies - - my favorites are his first, Stranger Than Paradise, and a more recent movie, Only Lovers Left Alive. Stranger Than Paradise is quirky, very funny at times, beautiful to look at, and in its own way, charming. Only Lovers Left Alive is maybe the greatest vampire movie I've ever seen, and I've seen a lot of them. It's surprisingly sweet and tender (for the genre) starring Tilda Swinton and Tom Hiddleston as the central couple, also with Mia Wasikowska, Jeffrey Wright, Anton Yelchin, and sweetest of all, John Hurt as Christopher Marlowe. I urge you to see this movie if you haven't already.

You know how you get emails from some random restaurant or concert venue and you don't know how you got on the distribution list? Clearly a similar venue sold your email to them and while you're tempted to unsubscribe you figure maybe someday they'll have something you want to see? Well that was the case with Le Poisson Rouge. I've never been there and have been deleting their emails for years. Until a couple months ago when the subject title announced a concert with Jim Jarmusch. THAT made my little dog ears perk up. I did some digging and saw that his band Sqürl had done some of the haunting music on the Only Lovers Left Alive soundtrack. I was free the night of the concert, it wasn't too expensive, so why the hell not.

I splurged and bought a seat at a table. The other choice was standing and I'm too old for that business. The doors opened at 6:30pm so I got there at 6pm and there were already 15 people in line. The venue is in Greenwich Village and there was a particular middle-aged Village hipster vibe in that line - - 13 of them were wearing black (two of them all black), and I was the only one wearing a tie. A BOW TIE no less. I was flying my own freak flag that night, a square flag!

The doors opened and I got a good seat. At first glance it appeared to be what my late husband would refer to as "a fire trap," but on closer inspection I saw they did have a second exit. There wouldn't be any Cocoanut Grove happenings in this joint.

I was crazy for the opening act, singer/songwriter Grace Bergere. She has a deep voice and is a skilled guitarist. The low key vibe of her singing made me think of Suzanne Vega, never a bad thing. She was wearing a Chinese red blouse, a black velvet skirt, and snakeskin leggings or stockings. I couldn't see her shoes. Her hair was either a mixture of bleached blonde and black or maybe a blonde wig over her black hair. Hard to tell. Intriguing.

Her songs were very good, I describe them as "thoughtful rock," sort of downbeat but engaging. The songs often had a groovy, doleful Irish quality. I didn't understand many of the words but didn't care. Here's a video of Bergere singing "A Little Blood." See if you can figure out what's going on with her hair.

The best thing about her act was her offbeat trio of backup dudes: one on trumpet, one on drums, and one on accordion. Did they come up with that combination of instruments using the I Ching? I was skeptical but pleased - - the combo was rich and distinctive.

The trumpet player was the dreamiest of the three, shoulder-length straight hair parted down the middle, super cute face. My late husband would say he has a "carb face" but I thought he was adorable, like the love child of Treat Williams.

The drummer had straight longish straight hair slicked straight back. Like the other two, he was wearing a black suit and white shirt. He sat in front of one drum and had a cymbal perched above it. He shimmered the cymbal, I don't believe he ever struck it. The last song featured some >pish< from a tambourine clamped on a stand to his right, which he played with the same mallets he used for the drum and cymbal. He put on a pair of shades for the last song.

The third guy played the accordion and sang backup vocals, he had a really nice voice and blended beautifully with Bergere. He had the accordion on a table in front of him, rather than suspended from his shoulders. I'd never seen this before, it was kinda cool, and hey, probably much better for your back. His hair was curly and slicked back. He got really involved in one song, lowered his head and shook it around. This messed up his coiffure but it still looked good.

They finished and took a little break to clear the stage and set up for Jarmusch. Some random guy tried to engage Bergere in a conversation which I could tell she didn't appreciate. Yeah girl, you show him who's boss.

I'm sure this happens a lot with people who go to rock-style concerts - - I liked the opening act SO much better than the headliner. Jarmusch played electric guitar and the other performer was composer and oud player Josef Van Wissem. I'm sure I'd heard an oud at some point in my life but not in such a prominent setting. It's a Middle Eastern stringed instrument, a variation on a lute. It sounds like a banjo, an intensely metallic twangy sound.

Jarmusch's electric guitar was invariably rough and fuzzy sounding, an odd pairing with the flinty sound of the oud, like they were having a conversation in different languages (though they appeared to understand each other).

I've talked about everyone else's appearance so I suppose I should talk about these two guys. Van Wissem had shoulder-length straight hair and was wearing a large black hat. Not quite a cowboy hat but heading in that direction. A black outfit, unremarkable. Unlike Jarmusch, he engaged with the audience with the occasional smile or nod.

Jarmusch was wearing a similarly unremarkable black outfit but who cares because he has some of the most amazing hair on earth. Bright white, stick-straight, and standing straight up. Seeing his hair in person was a big thrill.

I did not like his playing. It felt aimless, like he was making it up as he went along, which is not quite the same thing as improvising. Van Wissen was twang twang twang, unceasing, unperturbed, maybe even a little unaware of what Jarmusch was doing. Jarmusch used a lot of feedback, holding his guitar near the amplifier to produce a screechy sound, offensive to my ears. NOT my scene. I had a dentist appointment the next morning and felt like this was my warm-up.

They ended with a piece that was almost melodic. I say "ended" but it was just me who ended. I snuck out before the next song started.