Baby needs a new and shiny prize
They started the show with 'The Tain', and I was so satisfied that I pretty much felt like I could leave afterwards. But, I didn't, and the gig continued on excellent form for the rest of the night.
Well done, Decemberists!
See, the thing is, after the last time I saw them play live, I was pretty sure I didn't want to ever again. It was the most self-indulgent spectacle I can remember witnessing, at least as put on by an 'indie' band, and I felt disgusted by the egotism apparently on display. Tonight, though, they just rocked out, with almost no forced audience participation or, thank goodness, re-enactments of Tolkien. (Also, that random Lisa woman wasn't there, so it was just the core 5, and they did their bits, and it was great, and there were none of the extra, unnecessary frills.) I say almost no participation because, as if they couldn't help it, they finished with 'The Mariner's Revenge Song'. I know it's a 'crowd favourite', and there were a few moments in which I gave in to the music's charm, but we've all seen and done the screaming-upon-whale-imbibement thing by now, and I wish they'd just give it a rest.
Aside from that, with a few b-side exceptions, including 'The Apology Song', the set list was almost entirely The Crane Wife material, and it was with fond remembrance that I thought back on all those years ago, when wellsussed and I were driving around Minneapolis listening to Castaways and Cutouts, but there you go. The past is a foreign country, I suppose.
I wouldn't have gone tonight had Sophie Ellis-Bextor not postponed her tour to go out as support for Take That, so here's to silver linings. And the long lost Kingdom of Spain.
Well done, Decemberists!
See, the thing is, after the last time I saw them play live, I was pretty sure I didn't want to ever again. It was the most self-indulgent spectacle I can remember witnessing, at least as put on by an 'indie' band, and I felt disgusted by the egotism apparently on display. Tonight, though, they just rocked out, with almost no forced audience participation or, thank goodness, re-enactments of Tolkien. (Also, that random Lisa woman wasn't there, so it was just the core 5, and they did their bits, and it was great, and there were none of the extra, unnecessary frills.) I say almost no participation because, as if they couldn't help it, they finished with 'The Mariner's Revenge Song'. I know it's a 'crowd favourite', and there were a few moments in which I gave in to the music's charm, but we've all seen and done the screaming-upon-whale-imbibement thing by now, and I wish they'd just give it a rest.
Aside from that, with a few b-side exceptions, including 'The Apology Song', the set list was almost entirely The Crane Wife material, and it was with fond remembrance that I thought back on all those years ago, when wellsussed and I were driving around Minneapolis listening to Castaways and Cutouts, but there you go. The past is a foreign country, I suppose.
I wouldn't have gone tonight had Sophie Ellis-Bextor not postponed her tour to go out as support for Take That, so here's to silver linings. And the long lost Kingdom of Spain.