Wesley Stace's Cabinet of Wonders: The Podcast Wesley Stace

After poetry of welcome, much of which turns on the fact that the host is unable to pronounce the surnames of either of his female cabineteers, Mr. Stace and Mr. Eugene Mirman discuss the doomed concept of the post-reading Q&A. Mr. Stace is then joined by The English UK for his love song to the city, “We Will Always Have New York”, before chanteuse Sarah Borges (rhymes with “gorgeous”) takes the stage for a song; the band then join her for the remarkably catchy “Stop and Think It Over.” Emma Straub delights us with a reading of “The Three Hour Tour”, and then Alec Ounsworth of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! delivers his haunting take on Neil Young’s “Everybody Knows This is Nowhere”, before bringing the curtain down on the first act with his band’s frenetic classic “Upon This Tidal Wave of Young Blood”.

The curtain raises to find our hero, Mr. Stace, alone onstage, reading poetry of welcome, before telling a revealing story about Hugh Bonneville (AKA Earl of Grantham on TV’s Downtown Abbey) who wrote precisely one line of Stace’s next song, “Wrong for the Part.” The delightful Amber Tamblyn, actress/writer, reads poems from her new collection “Dark Sparkler,” concerning actresses who died before the age of 35. She yields the stage to the legendary Marshall Crenshaw who plays a new song, “Move Now,” with the band, and an old song with merely a drummer for accompaniment, telling some captivating stories about America (the band) and Jackie DeShannon. Eugene Mirman hits the stage to “the luke warm energy of an NPR crowd that I just CRAVE!” before telling us about his recent car accident and how he is invariably mistaken for a shop employee. The show closes with Sarah Borges, Alec Ounsworth, Marshall, Amber, Eugene and Wes joining together to sing The Monkees’ “I’m A Believer,” before the customary closing hymn “Religious Experience”.

You can’t stop the readings: nobody can stop the readings! Mr Stace performs his classic “Makin’ Love to Bob Dylan”. Bob’s Burger’s own Eugene Mirman takes center-stage to tickle the City Winery’s collective funny bone, before Cabinet favourite Kristin Hersh sets about “Krait” from Crooked and Throwing Muses classic “Devil’s Roof”. Siri Hustvedt illuminates us with a reading from her transcendent novel “The Blazing World”, before the audience thrills to Chicago’s own Robbie Fulks who brings the show to a frenetic climax with Jerry Reed’s “Guitar Man”. (The house band reveal that they have mistakenly learned Bread’s song of the same name. A brief argument ensues.) The assembled company take the stage for the traditional processional hymn “Religious Experience.”

After the time-honoured opening prayer, Mr. Stace and Eugene Mirman discuss recent good fortune with regard to a pair of gloves thought lost at a Boston hotel. Mr Stace then tests the sound system with a song of welcome entitled “When I Knew”. The Dove and the Wolf - all the way from Paris (and later to sing in French) – entrance the audience with divine harmony, then hand the stage over to The London Souls who electrify the City Winery without the use of bass. Rick Moody, on this solid evidence, christens them “the best new live act in America!” and then reads an open letter to the “Drummers of Europe” before performing the Procol Harum classic “Simple Sister” with his host and The English UK.

In which the show must and does go on! Imagine, if you will, a world where Southside Johnny, the godfather of the New Jersey Sound, shares a bill with Andrew VanWyngarden, lead singer of MGMT: only in the Cabinet! Andrew sings the MGMT classic “I Love You Too, Death” along with covers of beautiful psych by Les Baroques and the Brazda Brothers, while Southside sings us “Hearts of Stone”, written of course by Bruce Springsteen. The meat in the Southside/MGMT sandwich was another great New Jersey poet, your ex-Poet Laureate, Robert Pinsky, with The English UK backing him on “Antique”. The assembled company then join for a celebratory, valedictory rendition of Kevin Ayer’s “Religious Experience.” (WARNING: contains excellent harmonica playing.)

After the time-honored opening ceremony, Mr. Stace, Das Kabinettmeister, tests the sound system with a song of welcome. The Milk Carton Kids, all dry wit and breathtaking harmonies, then treat us to a profoundly beautiful three song set, sung and played into one microphone as nature intended. So taken is Janeane Garofalo by this performance, that she invites them onstage for hers: a charming interaction and a great set of comedy. Finally, for Part One, singer-songwriter extraordinaire Josh Rouse plays songs from his new record: on “Crystal Falls,” he is joined by The English UK.