I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: October 11, 2017] Modest Mouse

I saw Modest Mouse at Starland Ballroom a couple of years ago.  And then I saw them outdoors at Steelstacks in Bethlehem, PA.

And in both instances, I found their fan base to be pretty obnoxious (for various reasons).  I really wanted to see them again (their lives shows are pretty great), so this time I was prepared for obnoxious fans, which made everything more palatable.

And now having seen them three times, I understand why they sell out all the time–their lives shows are amazing and the crowd is somewhat justified for being so obnoxious–it’s a wild and raucous time.

The band came out and set up–horns, violins, percussion–it’s a pretty large group up there.

As the show started, Isaac Brock came out in a Halloween mask and coverall (was he Leatherface?).  He sang “Tortoise and the Terrorist” with the mask on for a verse or two before he got really frustrated and ripped it off (“It seemed like a good idea.”)

One of the great things about Modest Mouse live is that they play songs from all over their career, pretty much regardless of what album they are currently touring.

During this show they played nine songs I hadn’t heard live at the other two shows (and a tenth, was a very different version of Wild Packs of Family Dogs).

There is such a tremendous energy at Modest Mouse shows.  By the end of the show it turned into a big slam dancing pit (and of course like last time at Starland, a fight broke out–but security was right there on it).  I was particularly glad for the pit because there were at least three tall guys with big hair in my way.  And by the third or fourth song they had been moved by the waves of people.  At times I had a completely clear view (and other times no view at all).  But the sound was fantastic.

And when I couldn’t see Isaac there were several other band members to watch (I couldn’t get very good pictures of them though, sadly).

There was a tall guy in front of me who was a huge fan and when the played “Bury Me With It,”  he went nuts, which was really fun (I love that song, too).

After a rocker like “Dramamine,” I like that they slowed things down with “Missed the Boat” (and the crowd can really sing along to the “carry it on so well” part).  I love that there were backing vocals for the high notes too–they really complete the song.

I have heard “Dashboard” all three times but I can’t get enough of that song.  The mellow “Pups to Dust” was fun to watch because of all the whispered spoken word stuff and the really cool harmonics on Isaac’s guitar.

I couldn’t believe they played “Grey Ice Water” a B-side from 1998–the fans were really nuts for the rarities they played this night.

Everybody, even the assholes, likes to sing along to “Bukowksi”:  “who would want to be, who would want to be such an asshole?”

And then Isaac busted out the banjo (and the horns) and they played “King Rat.”  This stomping song was a ton of fun to watch–it’s always fun to see Isaac scream things.   The horns and banjo stayed out for “This Devil’s Workday,” a romping stomping song that is so much fum to sing along to when the whole crowd is into it (and they were).

“Out of Gas” was great to hear once again, but I think we all went nuts for “I Came As a Rat.”  “Lampshades on Fire” gets new and old fans alike moving.

“Night on the Sun” was a nice breather before the set ending stomp of “Sugar Bones.”  The rocking solo was outstanding and the rest of the band were clearly having a ton of fun.

They left for a very long encore break–the crowd was chanting “one more song” and I was thinking, “hell no five more songs.”  Well they played SIX!  I feel no sympathy for the people who left early.

A moody “Shit in your Cut opened” the encore and then everyone went pretty nuts when he shouted “I got one 2 3 4 5 666” for the old track “Breakthrough.”

The last time I heard “Wild Pack of Family Dogs,” they made a kind of weird electronic version of it.  This time it was much more straightforward and acoustic sounding.  But the encore wasn’t going to be all mellow.  Isaac switched guitars and led us into the lurching “The Ground Walks, With Time in a Box.”  Then came a buzzing opening and some stray guitar lines as they played the super fun “Fly Trapped in a Jar” which got lots more dancing around once the song really kicked into high gear.

They ended the set not with “The Good Times Are Killing Me,” which I took to be a standard show closer, but with the 1996 B-side “Whenever You Breathe Out, I Breathe In (Positive Negative).”  The guy in front of me (a different guy) absolutely freaked out when they played this.  And I was very happy for him.

When the show ended, a woman in front of me was given Lisa Molinaro’s setlist (which you can see has all kinds of notations on it, and is even wrong at one point).  And later the next day, the band posted a video on Instagram of them burning the full setlist.  I assume it was in the parking lot of Starland (it was really windy that night).  I was able to get a screen grab before it burnt up.  I love that both setlists are dated!

I typically feel that a really good band must be seen twice to really get the full experience.  I will happily see Modest Mouse again and again if they can keep up this kind of excellence.

Starland Ballroom, 2014	Steelstacks Pavillion 2015	Starland Ballroom, 2017
Cowboy Dan [LCW]	The Tortoise and the Tourist [StO]*	The Tortoise and the Tourist [StO]**
Dark Center Of The Universe [M&A]	Paper Thin Walls [M&A]**	Bury Me with It [GNFPWLBN]
Invisible [WWDBTSES]	Lampshades on Fire [StO]**	Dramamine [TIALDFSWNTTA]**
Lampshades On Fire [new/StO]*	Out of Gas [LCW]*	Missed the Boat [WWDBTSES]
Dramamine [TIALDFSWNTTA]*	Dashboard [WWDBTSES]**	Dashboard [WWDBTSES]***
> Life Like Weeds (Tease) [M&A]	Bukowski [GNFPWLBN]*	Pups to Dust [StO]**
This Devil’s Workday [GNFPWLBN]*	This Devil’s Workday [GNFPWLBN]**	Grey Ice Water [BNOOS]
Satin In A Coffin [GNFPWLBN]	Here’s to Now (Ugly Casanova cover)	Bukowski [GNFPWLBN]**
Fire It Up [WWDBTSES]	The Best Room [StO]	King Rat [NOFAYN]
Coyotes [new/StO]	Doin’ the Cockroach [LCW]	This Devil’s Workday [GNFPWLBN]***
Dashboard [WWDBTSES]*	The World at Large [GNFPWLBN]**	Out of Gas [LCW]**
Pistol (A. Cunanan, Miami, FL. 1996) [new/StO]	Night on the Sun [EaHNPT]*	I Came as a Rat [M&A]
Talking Shit About A Pretty Sunset [TIALDFSWNTTA]	Float On [GNFPWLBN]	Lampshades on Fire [StO]***
Wild Packs Of Family Dogs [M&A]*	The Ground Walks, With Time in a Box [StO]*	Night on the Sun [EaHNPT]**
Tiny Cities Made Of Ashes [M&A]*	Black Cadillacs [GNFPWLBN]**	Sugar Boats [StO]
Shit In Your Cut [new/StO]*	Styrofoam Boots/It’s All Nice on Ice, Alright [LCW]	encore
Black Cadillacs [GNFPWLBN]*	Tiny Cities Made of Ashes [M&A]**	Shit In Your Cut [StO]*
Spitting Venom [WWDBTSES]	encore	Breakthrough [TIALDFSWNTTA]
Shit Luck [LCW]	Gravity Rides Everything [M&A]	Wild Packs Of Family Dogs [M&A]**
Trailer Trash [LCW]	Pups to Dust [StO]*	The Ground Walks, With Time in a Box [StO]**
encore	A Different City [M&A]	Fly Trapped in a Jar [WWDBTSES]
Heart Cooks Brain [LCW]	The Good Times Are Killing Me [GNFPWLBN]**	Whenever You Breathe Out, I Breathe In (Positive Negative) [I8]
The World At Large [GNFPWLBN]*
Paper Thin Walls [M&A]*
The Good Times Are Killing Me [GNFPWLBN]*