Beautiful, polished and funny, Jenny Lewis is an indisputably terrific performer. And surrounded by her dynamite band, she certainly cast her spell over the sold-out Apollo Theater on Saturday. In retrospect, though, the highlight of my evening was the hilarious shock of the surprise opening act: Sarah Silverman, with her gloriously filthy, vagina-centric monologues, made me laugh in a way that I haven’t in years. Thank you for that Sarah.

I felt some trepidation going to this show. I was disappointed with Lewis’ latest solo album, Acid Tongue, just released on September 23. Her voice is too often lost beneath her band; worse, at times her sound even borders on the affected, belying the so-called confessional style that she is known for. And aside from a few standouts, the song writing pales in comparison to Rabbit Fur Coat, her 2006 album with the Watson Twins.

That being said, the songs from Acid Tongue stand up much better live, doubtlessly benefiting from the force of Lewis’ personality, her razor-sharp band and the harmonies they provided on nearly every number. Still, the old-time country-bluegrass songs are a better showcase for her pretty voice and clever lyrics than the repetitive barroom torch songs, which mostly comprise Acid Tongue. The title track from that album did supply the high point of the show. The band put down their instruments and, with their arms around each other’s shoulders, surrounded Lewis to sing backup on a ballad centering on LSD and lost love. Maybe it was because of the Apollo’s acoustics, or because it was one of the few times during the night where Lewis seemed to be simply singing and not performing, but the song sent chills down my spine and over my skin. Two days later, I still can’t get it out of my head.

At one point, Jenny did a note-for-note cover of “Love Hurts” with her guitar player Dave Scher. It was the slow, heartbreaking version by Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris from Grievous Angel, not the hit version by Nazareth. But it certainly begged the comparison between Jenny Lewis and Emmylou Harris. Both ladies have higher-than-average voices and are probably at their best in the realm of folk and country. But where Lewis can be coy, Harris is consistently sincere. And I think erring on the side of sincerity can never be a bad thing.

See Jenny Lewis live:
24 Oct - Santa Cruz, CA @ Rio Theatre
25 Oct - Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom
26 Oct - Seattle, WA @ Showbox at the Market
28 Oct - San Francisco, CA @ Herbst Theatre
29 Oct – San Francisco, CA @ Herbst Theatre
30 Oct - Los Angeles, CA @ The Orpheum
1 Nov - San Diego, CA @ UCSD Price Center Ballroom

Visit Jenny Lewis on MySpace.

*above slideshow created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.