Live Review: She & Him at Atlanta Botanical Gardens

She & Him (Photo: Sam Jones)

Live Review: She & Him, Friday, July 9, 2010, Atlanta Botanical Gardens, Atlanta
by Manu Muraro

July in Atlanta is not the best time for outdoor concerts. But She & Him at the Botanical Gardens sounded worth the risk. Granted, there was a storm and lightening that delayed the show for almost two hours, but luckily, I didn’t get there until when it started.

And I was right, the show was so worth it!

Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward, who make up the duo She & Him, are an amazing combo. Her powerful voice combined with his guitar sounds just perfect. When he sings, his scratchy deeper voice contrasts with her higher pitch in a very nice way.

She also played the keyboard – he also played the keyboard on some songs – but then, much to my excitement, she busted out a ukulele! The uke sounded really nice when they performed the cover “Gonna Get Along Without You Now”.

They were accompanied by a good band (The Chapin Sisters), too. But I couldn’t take my eyes away from She & Him.

They played their best songs from both albums, my favorites being “Why Do You Let Me Stay Here” and “In The Sun”. But the highlight of the night was when they came back for the encore – just the two of them – and played “You Really Got a Hold on Me”.

Deschanel was as cute and charismatic as you would think. And while I am sure most people there didn’t have any idea of who M. Ward was; I secretly wished he would play “Chinese Translation”, but that would be a different show.

Editor’s Note: With this review, DeadJournalist.com welcomes back Manu Muraro as a contributor to the site.