I went to Portland to see John Wesley Harding's Cabinet of Wonders last week. I didn't really know what to expect, all I knew was Ben Gibbard and Colin Meloy would be performing. And really, that's all I needed to hear. Also there were Peter Buck, Eugene Mirman, Storm Large, Laura Veirs, Sallie Ford, Scott McCaughey, k.d. lang, Monica Drake and Lidia Yuknavitch with Black Prairie acting as the house band. It turned out to be a variety show (with a love theme in honor of Valentine's Day) with comedy, prose, poetry and music benefitting My Music Rx. And it was pretty fucking awesome. Hearing Colin Meloy sing "You are the Everything" (with Ben Gibbard on backing vocals and Peter Buck on mandolin no less) was without a doubt the highlight for me though. I mean, there were a ton wonders in that cabinet, but that was a moment that I will never forget. </3

Also memorable: getting a Valentine from Eugene Mirman that said "You're Jewish", hearing Ben Gibbard cover Tom Waits' "Martha", everyone singing "All You Need is Love", and Colin and (a very pregnant) Laura Veirs singing "Islands in the Stream". In costume.

(More photos).