The Jon Brion Show

September 6, 2011 8:13 AM

Live from 1999, it's the unaired pilot for The Jon Brion Show! With special guests Paul F. Tompkins, Grant-Lee Phillips, Mark Oliver "E" Everett, Greg Behrendt, Elliot Smith, Rickie Lee Jones, Robyn Hitchcock, Cheap Trick, and Mary Lynn Rajskub.

(Parts 2, 3, 4, 5)

posted by Iridic (13 comments total)

Holy shit.
posted by shakespeherian at 8:33 AM on September 6, 2011

Why did I have to see this 5 minutes before I needed to leave to go to work...

Holy shit indeed.
posted by furnace.heart at 8:35 AM on September 6, 2011

This should have been a thing. A pox on VH1 for not making it happen.
posted by Doleful Creature at 8:38 AM on September 6, 2011

Awesome. The man's a genius. I saw him at Largo a few weeks ago and he was, as always, amazing.

And yes, that's 1999. Right down to the handheld camera work and the chain wallets. Odd how watching something from 1999 makes me feel now the way something from 1989 would have made me feel back then.
posted by The World Famous at 8:41 AM on September 6, 2011

I always get Jon Brion confused with awesome character actor Brion James. Which usually leads to much befuddlement at certain things.
posted by kmz at 8:47 AM on September 6, 2011

Wonderful. Looking forward to the NYC shows in October.
posted by mintcake! at 8:57 AM on September 6, 2011

Bryon not Bree-on. <mind explodes>
posted by zeoslap at 9:23 AM on September 6, 2011

Awesome find.

I saw Jon at the Largo in-- I want to say 1998, but I'm not sure. Somewhere around there. It was mostly just him, but he was joined on stage for a while by Grant-Lee Phillips and Elliot Smith.

Jon did a lot of improvising, playing songs from ideas shouted out from the audience, recording a line into a sequencer, looping it, then playing different melodies over the top. Then he pulled out a book of Queen sheet music, and he and Grant-Lee did Queen covers for about half an hour. It was pretty wonderful. Elliot Smith was drunk, shy, and mostly just stood there.

If I ever get back to LA, seeing another Jon Brion show is definitely on the list. I can't believe he's still going strong.
posted by Georgina at 9:54 AM on September 6, 2011

This is really confusing and never could have been a show, but wow it looks amazingly fun in person.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 10:53 AM on September 6, 2011

This is terrible quality but is still my favourite thing of his.
posted by minifigs at 3:28 PM on September 6, 2011

This is terrible quality but is still my favourite thing of his.

The leaked original version of Extraordinary Machine is mine.
posted by John Kenneth Fisher at 5:44 PM on September 6, 2011

Wow, this is ridiculous/hilarious/amazing.
posted by saul wright at 9:51 PM on September 6, 2011

Damn, I miss Elliott Smith.
posted by so_gracefully at 9:56 PM on September 6, 2011 [1 favorite]