For those of you who couldn’t get tickets to either of the sold-out performances at the Troubadour or Palladium, I hope you didn’t RSVP to Jenny and Johnny’s free show at the Toyota Antics Block Party in Echo Park on Sunday. And for those of you did, I hope you asked for your money back.

Oddly enough, even with a semi-solid lineup listing the likes of Tokyo Police Club, The Boxer Rebellion and Sea Wolf, to name a few, it seemed strangely underhyped. Located just off Sunset Blvd. behind Taix restaurant, one would think its central location would have promised a denser crowd, but we found a parking spot almost immediately, and upon arrival with ticket printouts in hand, found no trace of guest-list enforcement or even anyone to check my bag.

Granted, it’s already hard enough not to be a little bit in love with Jenny Lewis. I have yet to see a performance of hers or listen to a record that was not, essentially, flawless. Actually, it is no secret that since I sat next to her at the Forum Club three years ago I have made it my personal mission to find her and convince her to be my best friend. Now I live in Silver Lake and have since seen her live onstage at least three times, in person at least double that and risen to the occasion exactly zero times. Imagine how I feel now, arms length from her while she sits at her table, dwarfed by ice buckets and empty bottles of champagne at the Taix bar. In retrospect, she might as well have been anticipating the “plague of technical nightmares” that would soon arise onstage.

Jenny and Johnny is, of course, Jenny Lewis and her lesser half, Johnathan Rice. Their debut album, I’m Having Fun Now, drew much attention and equally as much disappointment upon its August release. Apparently Jenny’s talent is muted when so closely harmonized with Johnny, in more ways than one. Except maybe for tonight, because the songs that fall so flat on the recording are actually pretty powerful when played live. For example, the opener, Committed could easily be skipped or categorized as a filler track. Repetitive, simple and maybe too close to a Billy Ray Cyrus rip-off on the album, J&J really dig into it hard on stage, rawing up the playful edges and I think now it might be my new favorite song on the whole release.

But like with most imaginary love affairs, just when it starts getting good, things fall apart. Maybe it had something to do with the champagne, but Jenny handled every disaster with a graceful, loose humor. Amused and maybe a little tipsy, she laughed off every mishap; a missing setlist, too much in the monitor or not enough, broken pedals and blown amps–all with a trademark radiant sense of charm. And go figure, she even breaks up a girl-fight in the pit.

Her boyfriend and bandmate, on the other hand, has less patience and self-control when it comes to dealing with technical misfortunes. While Jenny is quicker to throw out an apologetic quip to her hometown fans (“Shit’s free, right?”), Johnathan Rice mercilessly berates his stagehand, who is on his knees frantically trying to figure out why Rice’s acoustic guitar is not making sound. Apparently the awkward lull is too much for bigshot Rice, who is annoyed and about to lose his temper, cracking sarcastic, rude demands to the sound engineers until he snaps brutally, “Fuck it, I’ll just go electric, GET OFF THE STAGE.”

Needless to say, we didn’t wait for an encore. If it weren’t for the talent and poise of Jenny Lewis, the show would have been nothing short of a humiliating disaster. Facebook fans would later receive a sincere apology via status update pertaining to the technical difficulties. But as for Johnny’s vicious outburst and attitude, let’s not hold our breath.