I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: October 13, 2018] Modest Mouse

This is my fourth Modest Mouse show (NJ, Bethlehem, NJ, Bethlehem).  I wasn’t expecting to see them again so soon, but when they do three shows all within an hour of your house it’s a sign that you should go to at least one.

The fans were less obnoxious this time (although they were especially drunk, I believe).  The band had a different stage setup than usual as well.  Isaac Brock was in the middle of the stage instead of off to the right like the last few times.  This worked out very well for me as I had moved to the left side of the stage to get away from a really drunk and loud girl.  So I was right by Isaac and had the best view of him and his guitar (and his outfit) of any show.

Modest Mouse likes to test the fans’ patience.  They waited about 45 minutes before going on, which is a bit much, frankly.

But as soon as they come out the mood was lifted (especially with Isaac wearing a plaid onesie).

The main draw for me at a Modest Mouse show is the thought that I’ll hear songs I haven’t heard live before.  I didn’t know if that was possible on my now fourth show but amazingly, they played 8 songs that I hadn’t hear live before.  They have over 100 songs officially released, so I don’t imagine hearing all of them, but I have heard 55 songs at four shows, which again, is amazing.

I was in front of guitarist Jim Fairchild (who also played keyboard and possibly trumpet–there was a lot of instrument switching).  Even though Isaac does much of the main guitar work, Tom is instrumental to creating that full sound.

They don’t have a new album out but they did play what I believe is a new song, “Poison the Well.”  Their last album, Strangers to Ourselves, came out in 2015, so that is the de facto new album and they opened up with the title track, which, coincidentally, I had not heard them play before.  How about that!

Even though I love to hear songs for the first time, I’d be bummed not to hear some other ones, too.  It’s always great to hear “Dramamine.” It was very cool to watch him play the riff.

I’ve heard “Lampshade on Fire” at every show and yet I never get tired of it.  (Although this time they did not play “Dashboard” which has been at every other show so far).  I’ve also heard “This Devil’s Workday” every time.  They don’t have all that many banjo-based songs, and the crowd loves it.

Lisa Molinaro played violin for most of the show but at one point I looked up and she was playing bass!  She may have also played a horn at some point as well, I lost track of everyone.

I don’t think I have a favorite Modest Mouse album, but I am quite fond of Good News for People Who Love Bad News, so it was cool that they played six songs from that record!  Including “Float On.” (which I’d only heard live once before).   I always think of this as their biggest hit which is why I assume they don’t play it–I also assume that Isaac is a curmudgeon, but who knows if he really is).  They played a speedy version of it bit was still great to hear.

Speaking of curmudgeons,  I have decided that Isaac just likes fucking with the audience.  He pretended to have a conversation with someone in the audience about having a baby together.  It seems so genuine and yet there’s no way he’s actually talking to someone, especially given the crazy things he says.

There were three drummers/percussionists as well.  Jeremiah Green (left) who also played other instruments at various times.  Davey Brozowski (pictured below with Tom Peloso) and Ben Massarella (right) who had the most interesting percussion.  I loved watching him because he would often do something like hit two wood blocks together and that crisp sound would resonate even amid the din of the guitars and everything else.  The drum he is holding was nifty looking although I could never get a clear picture of it.

The band played a very pretty version of “The World At Large.”  And then after six songs, it was time for some banjo and horns.  They played “Satin in a Coffin” and the wonderful “King Rat.”  t’s amazing how this loud rocking band can turns into a stompin fun multi-instrumental amalgam for a few songs.

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).

On bass was Tom Peloso who had on a big hat at he beginning of the show.  He also played some various horns when they were called for.

During the banjo portion of the show, someone threw a beachball on stage and Isaac played the old man, taking the ball and saying “It’s my ball now.”  He did try to give it back–genuinely or not, who knows.

They always throw in a couple of old, unexpected songs, like “Satellite Skin” from their 2009 EP as well as “Interstate 8 ” from 1996 (!).

They ended the first set with “The Ground Walks, With Time in a Box.”  Looking at the set list below this looks like such a short show.  But they had a lot more to give.

They went off for an encore.  The encore break was so long (another Modest Mouse staple).  People were getting angry  Some people called it an intermission.  And while I admit that Modest Mouse plays a wonderfully long encore, there’s no way it can be considered a second set.

A bunch of people left.  But they are suckers.

For when they came back, Isaac had changed his outfit to this dockworker’s special.   And the opened with a roaring version of “Bury Me with It”

This encore turned out to be six songs long, including two songs that I love which I hadn’t heard live before.

After a terrific “Heart Cooks Brain” (in which I got to watch Fairchild play that cool riff), they played “Parting of the Sensory” (one of the songs I hadn’t heard live before).

Then came a terrific acoustic version of the pretty “Gravity Rides Everything.”  They stayed in acoustic mode for the first part of “The View” (the other song I hadn’t heard live before).  And then midway through, they totally rocked it out.

They ended the show with “Styrofoam Boots/It’s All Nice on Ice, Alright.”  When the song ended everyone left the stage except Isaac who bent over and played with his guitar pedals making weird feedback noises for about a minute.  The stage lights stayed on for about two more minutes making it seem like they were going to come back again, but they didn’t (just more messing with the fans, I imagine.)

But I don’t mind being messed with when the shows are this electric and exciting (and go on for about 2 hours, including that long encore break).

I don’t ever plan to see Modest Mouse, they just sort of appear and they worm their way into my calendar.  This is four times in five years!  And frankly, if they come around again, I’ll definitely go if I can.  I have 45 new songs to hear.

By the way I like the Sands Bethlehem venue. The sound is okay, not great, but that’s not the real problem. The real problem is that it can take over 45 minutes to get out of their parking lot.  I don’t understand why they can’t coordinate this better with the local transportation department.  You can sit unmoving for 30 minutes.  It’s really very poorly designed.

I guess they want you to stay for a drink or gambling.

 

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

Songs from:

• [TIALDFSWNTTA] This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About (1996)
• [I8] Interstate 8 (1996)
• [LCW] The Lonesome Crowded West (1997)
• [M&A] The Moon & Antarctica (2000)
• [BNOOS] Building Nothing Out of Something (2000)
• [EaHNPT] Everywhere and His Nasty Parlour Tricks (2001)
• [GNFPWLBN] Good News for People Who Love Bad News (2004)
• [WWDBTSES] We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank (2007)
• [NOFAYN] No One’s First, and You’re Next (2009)
• [StO] Strangers to Ourselves (2015)

 

Starland Ballroom, 2017	Sands, Bethlehem, 2018
The Tortoise and the Tourist [StO]**	Strangers to Ourselves [StO]
Bury Me with It [GNFPWLBN]*	Dramamine [TIALDFSWNTTA]***
Dramamine [TIALDFSWNTTA]**	Poison the Well [new]
Missed the Boat [WWDBTSES]	Lampshades on Fire [StO]****
Dashboard [WWDBTSES]***	Interstate 8 [I8]
Pups to Dust [StO]**	The World at Large [GNFPWLBN]***
Grey Ice Water [BNOOS]	Satin In A Coffin [GNFPWLBN]**
Bukowski [GNFPWLBN]**	King Rat [NOFAYN]**
King Rat [NOFAYN]*	This Devil’s Workday [GNFPWLBN]****
This Devil’s Workday [GNFPWLBN]***	What People Are Made of [M&A]
Out of Gas [LCW]**	Float On [GNFPWLBN]**
I Came as a Rat [M&A]*	Bankrupt on Sellling [LCW]
Lampshades on Fire [StO]***	I Came as a Rat [M&A]**
Night on the Sun [EaHNPT]**	Satellite Skin [NOFAYN]
Sugar Boats [StO]	The Ground Walks, With Time in a Box [StO]***
encore	encore
Shit In Your Cut [StO]*	Bury Me with It [GNFPWLBN]**
Breakthrough [TIALDFSWNTTA]	Heart Cooks Brain [LCW]**
Wild Packs Of Family Dogs [M&A]**	Parting of the Sensory [WWDBTSES]
The Ground Walks, With Time in a Box [StO]**	Gravity Rides Everything [M&A]**
Fly Trapped in a Jar [WWDBTSES]	The View [first half acoustic] [GNFPWLBN]
Whenever You Breathe Out, I Breathe In (Positive Negative) [I8]	Styrofoam Boots/It’s All Nice on Ice, Alright [LCW]**