[ATTENDED: May 8, 2024] The Decemberists
This was our fourth time seeing The Decemberists (which is frankly too low a number for how much we love them). But this show was on my birthday! Imagine that.
I have actually never been to a show on my birthday before, mostly because I like to spend my birthday with my family. But this was a band that my wife wanted to see as well, so we invited the kids along too, for a fun birthday night.
Sadly, my daughter was on crutches so she chose to stay home, but my son came even though he didn’t think he knew The Decemberists very well.
It turns out he knows them from osmosis and recognized a lot of songs from having heard his parents play them. He was also pleasantly surprised by how much they rocked (my wife likes the folkier side and she plays them more).
And the show opened with a folky vibe.
There were light fixtures out front and Colin Meloy wandered out with his acoustic guitar and played “Red Right Ankle.” He sounded great and the ambient lighting was perfect. He described it as singing in a grotto. Then Jenny Conlee came out with her accordion and the rest of the band came out soon after. Nate Query with is upright bass, Chris Funk at his guitar and Lizzy Ellison singing as they played a lovely June Hymn.
They stayed acoustic for the new song All I Want is You complete with Victor Nash on horns and keys. John Moen came out, the cool lights were removed and the “grotto” was taken away. They spread out and used the full stage which was delicately designed with floral patterns and curtains.
With the full band out they played Don’t Carry it All with Chris Funk playing lap steel guitar. Then they played the new song Burial Ground, after which Colin apologized for rhyming the word malaria in the song in case anyone in the audience was currently suffering from it.
The Decemberists could play pretty much anything in their catalog and I’d be happy. And now that they have so many albums out there are fewer and fewer older songs that they can squeeze in. So if they can only fit one part of The Crane Wife, I’ll take it.
After a rousing and fun The Sporting Life, with a little coda from The Smiths, Ellison got to show off her vocal chops with a fantastic The Queen’s Rebuke/The Crossing. The Hazards of Love remains my favorite album of theirs and I love any song they play from it (this was the only one tonight). But the heavy jamming during The Crossing was great–with some serious metal chords blasting out between the Hammond organ chords. (more…)
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My wife told me that she heard Guster was doing Free at Noon and we frantically tried to figure out if she could get the day off so we could go.
I Just Read About That... 