The songs and scores behind 30 years of Wes Anderson films took the spotlight during the second of three scheduled shows at the Hollywood Bowl on Saturday night, where a wide mix of recording artists from Beck to Rufus Wainwright, Jenny Lewis to Jackson Browne and many more joined the L.A. Phil in performances of fan favorites from across Anderson’s beloved filmography.
“We’re going to have music that makes you laugh, that makes you think, that makes you feel,” concert emcee Bill Murray, wearing a Steve Zissou-style red beanie, told the crowd at the beginning of the evening, before introducing longtime Anderson composer Mark Mothersbaugh and the rest of rock band Devo.
Before Devo played “Gut Feeling” (A Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou needle drop), Mothersbaugh opened up with a few words about Anderson, telling the crowd that “working with Wes was kind of the closest thing to working with this band here, where it was about ideas and concepts and making them come to life.”
The concert — music directed by Justin Meldal-Johnsen — was a healthy mix of needle drop covers along with orchestral numbers written by Mothersbaugh and fellow Anderson collaborator Alexandre Desplat, the whole night reflecting the vast draw of influences Anderson pulls from for his signature brand of quirky, whimsical films. On the instrumental side, Kaoru Wantanabe came out on taiko drums to play the percussive soundtrack of Isle of Dogs, while Ami Dang and Aakash Pujara played flute and sitar for the Darjeeling Limited tracks “Charu’s Theme” and “Arrival in Benares.”
My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James played a faithful cover of the Kinks’ “Strangers,” which was featured in The Darjeeling Limited, as well as Cat Stevens’ “The Wind,” one of the most moving musical moments in Rushmore. Karen Elson sang Françoise Hardy’s “Les Temps De L’amour” from Moonrise Kingdom and Jeff Goldblum showed off his prowess behind the keys alongside his jazz band as they played “Blinuet,” a Rushmore feature. Spoon frontman Britt Daniel also dipped into the Rushmore soundtrack with a performance of the raucous “Making Time.”
Lewis, Murray and Beck joined Roge for a high-energy performance of “Zorro Is Back” from the Bottle Rocket soundtrack.
Beck took one of the most iconic musical moments from the Anderson canon, playing Elliot Smith’s “Needle in the Hay,” along with Love’s “Alone Again Or.”
Jason Schwartzman, who took the stage several times throughout the night, recalled a story he’d similarly told The Hollywood Reporter earlier this week about going through the Rushmore soundtrack with Anderson after he was cast in the film, listening to the songs on a cassette as Anderson walked him through scenes. Schwartzman then pulled out what he claimed was that very same decades-old cassette and threw it into the crowd, though given that he pulled the same move during Friday’s show, it’s likely just a prop.
The overwhelming highlight of the night, though, was from Jackson Browne, who performed “The Fairest of the Seasons” and “These Days.” Browne had written that latter song as a 16-year-old, and the version recorded by German singer Nico inspired Anderson to make The Royal Tenenbaums in the first place, getting a prominent feature in the film in what remains arguably Anderson’s most iconic musical moment. Earlier this week, Anderson told THR it was “overwhelming” for Jackson to perform at the concert.
Anderson introduced Browne to the stage himself on Saturday, saying “These Days” “so directly reached out to me” as an artist, further noting that the track “was written impossibly by a 16-year-old boy.”
“Maybe it was a moment when I particularly needed some special artist, some voice, to reassure me of at least the illusion of a benevolent order in the universe,” Anderson said, thanking Browne before he performed. “I felt compelled for whatever reason, to make up a story that tried to expand the words and spirit of this song I loved into a movie that was more or less about regret. We called it The Royal Tenenbaums.”
Before he played, Browne told the crowd the story of how he’d forgotten he agreed for “These Days” to be in Royal Tenenbaums, discovering the song’s usage while he was in the theater watching for the first time.
“I’m indebted to Wes for having discovered this song and giving it this life,” Browne said.
The night finished with an ensemble performance of the Faces’ “Ooh La La,” the same track that concluded Rushmore.
The series is set to conclude with one more show at the Bowl on Sunday evening.
