Mountain Goats and more
Last Thursday night, Cory and I went to see the Mountain Goats play at the Granada here in Dallas. My brother Zachary came, too.
Now I love the Mountain Goats. They are probably my favorite band. John Darnielle's songwriting is amazing and in live performance he'll knock your socks off. In fact, the first time I saw the Mountain Goats perform (about three years ago), I barely knew any of their music but left a dedicated and diehard fan because of how amazingly compelling the live performance was. This show was just as good.
Not only were the Mountain Goats awesome, though, so were both opening acts. Larkin Grimm played first. She's a sort of indie alt-country singer/songwriter with a fantastic voice.
She was accompanied by a violinist and a guy who sometimes played guitar and sometimes played harp (both of whom sang backup as well).
After Larkin Grimm, Final Fantasy played. This is a band I'd neither heard nor heard of before and they were awesome. Really, the band is primarily Owen Pallett on vocals, violin, and keyboard, but he was accompanied by another guy on drums, guitar, bass, backup vocals, etc. And oh man were they good. I bought one of Final Fantasy's CDs the very next day I loved it so much.
But it was the Mountain Goats I went to see. And they were awesome. If you don't already know them, I cannot recommend them highly enough. I understand that they may not be everyone's favorite, but I think they truly are good enough to deserve a listen. Recommended albums: The Sunset Tree, Tallahassee, and Heretic Pride, with close runners-up in Get Lonely, We Shall All Be Healed, and The Life of the World to Come.
So good. And, just because I really like this picture, here's a shot of my brother post-concert, in all his plaid finery.
Now I love the Mountain Goats. They are probably my favorite band. John Darnielle's songwriting is amazing and in live performance he'll knock your socks off. In fact, the first time I saw the Mountain Goats perform (about three years ago), I barely knew any of their music but left a dedicated and diehard fan because of how amazingly compelling the live performance was. This show was just as good.
Not only were the Mountain Goats awesome, though, so were both opening acts. Larkin Grimm played first. She's a sort of indie alt-country singer/songwriter with a fantastic voice.
She was accompanied by a violinist and a guy who sometimes played guitar and sometimes played harp (both of whom sang backup as well).
After Larkin Grimm, Final Fantasy played. This is a band I'd neither heard nor heard of before and they were awesome. Really, the band is primarily Owen Pallett on vocals, violin, and keyboard, but he was accompanied by another guy on drums, guitar, bass, backup vocals, etc. And oh man were they good. I bought one of Final Fantasy's CDs the very next day I loved it so much.
But it was the Mountain Goats I went to see. And they were awesome. If you don't already know them, I cannot recommend them highly enough. I understand that they may not be everyone's favorite, but I think they truly are good enough to deserve a listen. Recommended albums: The Sunset Tree, Tallahassee, and Heretic Pride, with close runners-up in Get Lonely, We Shall All Be Healed, and The Life of the World to Come.
So good. And, just because I really like this picture, here's a shot of my brother post-concert, in all his plaid finery.