It was a spectacle on par with the religious revivalism of the Second Great Awakening. Frontman Alex Ebert of the ten-piece folk-rock outfit Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros was like the Messiah preaching to the sold-out audience at downtown L.A.’s The Mayan Theater;  I felt like the only non-believer in the joint. I enjoyed the band’s debut LP Up From Below, but seeing the live gig registered as gimmicky and brought to life some of the lyrical corniness that I try to overlook in listening to their album. While the floor quaked in the opening bars of the breakout single, “Home,” I was appalled by the hillbilly twang at the first line: “Alabama Arkansas I do Love my Ma and Pa,” as Ebert pranced around. I wanted to have the time of my life and recommend the show, but I could not wait to get out of there.

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