the decemberists: aaaah!
my beloved decemberists came to town last night. i was ever-so-slightly hyper, thanks to the extreme caffiene i had yesterday afternoon, and poor peripateticdoll had to endure my hyperactivity whilst waiting for the music-for-america folks. (i'd be buzzed anyway at the prospect of being ten feet away from the scrummy colin meloy, but the coffee and soda i'd had wasn't helping.)
they did not disappoint, in spite of various factors working against them. colin's twelve-string snapped two strings (!) during the opening song, "shanty for areustha" (sp?) and he had a big gash on his hand. poor guy. they drew on some new songs in the set, including "engine" (which is making me look forward to the next decemberists album -- 2005 can't come fast enough), as well as some oldies like "apology song", complete with an update on madeline, steven's bike.
unfortunately, more disaster struck in the middle of "the chimbley sweep". the pa went off, emitting a horrible squeal and preempting "the tain". instead of letting this set them back, the intrepid decemberists soldered on with some complete unplugged hits, including "red right ankle" (of course), "clementine", and "here i dreamt i was an architect", which made me swoon outright. oh colin. they closed out the set with a rousing rendition of the smiths' "ask", which included an audience singalong.
unfortunately, due to the 'dise's locale in a sketchy neighborhood, i did not get to bond over the saddest music in the world with colin over some fine brews. i did, however, yell out for "the song is you" whenever colin asked for requests. this made him beam. i felt a little tickly after that (ladies, do you read me?).
to be honest, i was a tiny bit bored with the long winters. had i known the songs, i probably would have been bouncing around and singing along. as it is, they remind me a bit of bleu and apollo sunshine, and i want to hear some of their stuff. john roderick cracked me up with his stage banter and his (current) resemblance to m*a*s*h*-era elliott gould. (i also yelled out "super pop and gay!!" at one point, to which he responded "that, young lady, is inappropriate!")
openers the places got me down with their sonic resemblance to scout niblett. a few of the songs were moderately okay, but the lead singer's bizarre banter completely turned me off.
i should write a review in which i describe what the decemberists sound like, which you don't get a sense of here. (if i said "wes anderson fronting neutral milk hotel", would you understand?) bleh.
they did not disappoint, in spite of various factors working against them. colin's twelve-string snapped two strings (!) during the opening song, "shanty for areustha" (sp?) and he had a big gash on his hand. poor guy. they drew on some new songs in the set, including "engine" (which is making me look forward to the next decemberists album -- 2005 can't come fast enough), as well as some oldies like "apology song", complete with an update on madeline, steven's bike.
unfortunately, more disaster struck in the middle of "the chimbley sweep". the pa went off, emitting a horrible squeal and preempting "the tain". instead of letting this set them back, the intrepid decemberists soldered on with some complete unplugged hits, including "red right ankle" (of course), "clementine", and "here i dreamt i was an architect", which made me swoon outright. oh colin. they closed out the set with a rousing rendition of the smiths' "ask", which included an audience singalong.
unfortunately, due to the 'dise's locale in a sketchy neighborhood, i did not get to bond over the saddest music in the world with colin over some fine brews. i did, however, yell out for "the song is you" whenever colin asked for requests. this made him beam. i felt a little tickly after that (ladies, do you read me?).
to be honest, i was a tiny bit bored with the long winters. had i known the songs, i probably would have been bouncing around and singing along. as it is, they remind me a bit of bleu and apollo sunshine, and i want to hear some of their stuff. john roderick cracked me up with his stage banter and his (current) resemblance to m*a*s*h*-era elliott gould. (i also yelled out "super pop and gay!!" at one point, to which he responded "that, young lady, is inappropriate!")
openers the places got me down with their sonic resemblance to scout niblett. a few of the songs were moderately okay, but the lead singer's bizarre banter completely turned me off.
i should write a review in which i describe what the decemberists sound like, which you don't get a sense of here. (if i said "wes anderson fronting neutral milk hotel", would you understand?) bleh.