Lee Vs. Diamond
Frequent Globe contributor Marc Hirsh fills us in on the Ben Lee show at the Paradise on Monday, with Low Vs. Diamond opening:
With 60 percent of openers Low Vs. Diamond (above) serving as his backing band, Ben Lee described the spectacle Monday night on the Paradise stage thusly: “This is Lee Vs. Diamond.” I think Diamond won. Lee's a man of modest, but not insubstantial, gifts as a singer-songwriter, and every time I see him live, I can't help but root for the guy. Then I go home and forget about him until the next time.
Lee's wildly charming, though, from calling an audience member onstage so he could sing the lyrics to “Shirtless” off of her iPhone to his decision to crowd-surf rather than pretend to leave before the encore. He just needs more songs like “Yoko Ono” (quality power pop) and “Ship My Body Home” (which was awesomely overpowering, just a rage of now! now! now! now!) to avoid being upstaged by his opening act.
Which is sort of what happened, since I've rarely seen a band more effectively counter the low energy of a sparse crowd than Low Vs. Diamond's sharp, rousing, and good-natured set. Heck, Lee might even agree. Shushing a fan, his issue was one of focus: “I'm all for heckling, but stay on point.”
And in case you missed the show, here's a sense of Low Vs. Diamond's infectious power pop, courtesy of the new video for its latest single, "Don't Forget Sister":
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