An Eye-Witness Account of She & Him

By now you know the back story to She & Him - it’s the campy collaboration of actress Zooey Deschanel and indie-rock troubadour M. Ward - and you’re excited to see if they can pull off the California-based harmonies live (hint: uh huh, oh yeah). Well, they brought their compelling act, complete with band, to a sold-out Wexner Center’s Black Box Performance Space on Monday night.

I honestly wasn’t in the best place personally going in, but I had a fun time. It was refreshing to see an act completely devoid of irony, just wearing it all on their poofy vintage dress sleeve.

You had a feeling going in that Zooey would have a magical, magnetic way about her and she definitely didn’t disappoint. But, as much as her booming vocals were “the real deal” it was her in-between song awkwardness and general air of naiveté that made her such a charmer - this was no conceited Hollywood starlet - you felt like you were watching an unsure friend play a house show completely unaware of just how great they had become.

Many of her songs deal with the complexities of love, loss, etc. Her plaintively real lyrics have a way of kicking you in the gut, especially if you’re in any sort of lovelorn spot, but in the end it always feels more like an ode to staying positive and appreciating the moment/moments as opposed to some sort of emotional beatdown. In other words, this is not heavy-handed stuff, just honest songwriting at its best.

As for M. Ward, the dude can wield an axe (if you can even use that phrase in regards to playing old country, camp and 60’s doo-wop music). His virtuosic style is attention-grabbing, but he doesn’t overplay or hog the limelight. He just knows all the right spots to bang on that Bigsby.

The backing band was filled-out with a talented cast of friends and seasoned veterans, including the wild-haired old guy multi-instrumentalist, the seriously kick-ass pregnant bass player, the handsome young drummer and the eternally optimistic hippie-back-up vocalist (Becky Stark, who also opened the show with a ridiculously genuine solo set) who Zooey at one point called “her favorite singer.” They all played their roles beautifully, especially when Stark described Earth as “the greatest planet in the whole World.”

Talking to a friend after the show she described the performance as “lovely.” It’s a simple word that really defines the She & Him experience - from songs to presentation - perfectly.