I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: August 5, 2021] Modest Mouse        [pictures to come]

I wasn’t planning on Modest Mouse being my first show back after 500+ pandemic days.  In fact, I didn’t even think they were my first show back (Japanese Breakfast on Saturday was first, I thought). I bought tickets for this show but forgot to write it on the calendar.  Thankfully, a reminder email got me totally psyched to be back.

This was my fifth time seeing Modest Mouse.  I laughed when I saw that last time I wrote:

I don’t ever plan to see Modest Mouse, they just sort of appear and they worm their way into my calendar.  And frankly … I’ll definitely go again if I can.

Obviously that was true as well this time.

I wish that there was a vaccination and mask mandate in place at The Met, because regardless of how vaccinated everybody may have been, there were a lot of unmasked faces in the pit with my masked one.

After a year and a half it was almost comforting to se that all of the irritating people came out for the show as well.  But I was in a good space, so I acknowledged their irritations bit didn’t get irritated.  I was fairly close to the stage, but there were some last minute pushers who forced me a little back.  I also tried my best to leave some distance between me and the others (but that was nigh impossible).  There were the requisite tall boys right in front of the stage and (I had forgotten about this behavior) a short girl (woman? it was hard to tell) who barreled her way right in front of me, dragging her boyfriend (father?) with her.  She also later tried to start a mosh pit but no one was biting.  And of course, by the end of the night there was the very sloppy drunk woman who was falling all over herself (and her boyfriend) who had to leave early.

After a 30 minute wait between bands, Modest Mouse came out.   And the crowd went nuts.

I noted last time that

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 heard 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

That was not an issue for me this time.  I just wanted to hear live music.  They did play seven songs I hadn’t hear live before.  But six of them were from the new album The Golden Casket.  One was from the Interstate 8 EP.

The band had quite a different make up than the last time I saw them.  For whatever reason, three band members departed (or just didn’t tour with them this time): Jim Fairchild, Lisa Molinaro and Davey Brozowski.  So this lineup was a six piece (with an extra, masked guitarist for one song).

I was in front of (new) guitarist Simon O’Connor who was a lot of fun to watch.  Behind him was Tom Peloso on keys and horn and upright bass.  In the back corner was bassist Russell Higbee.  I was near him last time and enjoyed his playing a lot.

That left the two percussionists.  Interestingly, Jeremiah Green, who plays the actual drumkit was off to the left side of the stage–unusual for a drummer.  Taking up center stage in the back was percussionist Ben Massarella who is a ton of fun to watch–just try to guess what he’ll pull out next.  And of course, Isaac Brock was up front singing and conducting the whole celebration.

They opened with “Dramamine” which was a great, classic way to get the show going.  There was a lengthy instrumental opening before Isaac started singing.

The followed it with a deep cut from the new album “Back to the Middle” followed by simply a deep cut “Cowboy Dan” (which was the first song they played when I first saw them in 2014).

Isaac asked if we liked boring stories, because he had one.  It was about a giant (or fat or lazy) squirrel.  Isaac’s stories always seem weird and funny but I have a very hard time following them.

The crowd went suitably crazy for the shouty “Bury Me with It” followed by another new song “Wooden Soldiers.” Then came the older “Gravity Rides Everything” and the new “Leave a Light On.”  I really enjoyed the mix of new and old.

Then Isaac picked up the banjo and the crowd went nuts again.  The guy in front of me filmed the entirety of every banjo song (hands over his head, really blocking the view of a lot of people) which was pretty annoying but whatever.  We got “Satin in a Coffin” (much singing along) and “King Rat.”

After the fairly rare “Shit In Your Cut” (the guy next to me was really psyched for that one), they played the big hit “Float On.”  (Of course that guy filmed all of this song too).  It was great to sing along with everyone on that.

Then it was two songs from The Moon and Antarctica (“Paper Thin Walls” and “I Came as a Rat”) sandwiching two brand new songs (the new rocking single “We Are Between” and “We’re Lucky”).

Time for an encore break.  Modest Mouse takes one of the longer encore breaks that I’m aware of.  But it’s worth it, since they usually play five or six songs in the encore.  And this was no exception.

They opened the encore with the weird opening song from the new album “Fuck Your Acid Trip” and then jumped way back for “Fire It Up” (which is what it did to the crowd).   Then came “The Ground Walks, With Time in a Box.”  The title of this song means nothing to me, but I clearly know it as this is the fourth time I’ve heard it live.

Then came the one old song I hadn’t heard before, “Broke” from Interstate 8. I8 is an old EP and I’ve heard three of the ten songs from it in the five shows.  Talk about deep cuts.

It seemed like he had a final song planned and then he switched from guitar back to banjo for the wonderful “Bukowski” (who would want to be such an asshole?).

The stage lights stayed on after the band left as if they might do one more song, but it was a tease.  We were done by 11:45 and I was home reasonably early, which I appreciated.

It was an excellent first show back and got me excited to see more (hopefully masked and vaxxed) shows.

 

The Met Philadelphia, 2021
Dramamine [TIALDFSWNTTA]****
Back to the Middle [GC]
Cowboy Dan [LCW]*
Bury Me with It [GNFPWLBN]***
Wooden Soldiers [GC]
Gravity Rides Everything [M&A]***
Leave a Light On [GC]
Satin In A Coffin [GNFPWLBN]***
King Rat [NOFAYN]***
Shit In Your Cut [StO]**
Float On [GNFPWLBN]**
Paper Thin Walls [M&A]***
We Are Between [GC]
We’re Lucky [GC]
I Came as a Rat [M&A]***
encore
Fuck Your Acid Trip [GC]
Fire It Up [WWDBTSES]*
The Ground Walks, With Time in a Box [StO]****
Broke [I8]
Bukowski [GNFPWLBN]***

 

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 Selling [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]**

 

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)
• [GC] The Golden Casket (2021)