Decemberists
I officially have a crush on Colin Meloy.
Tonight was the (first) Decemberists show. It was incredible. (Speaking of them, their new album -- Picaresque -- came out today. Everyone should go buy it).
I told Dave that I would drive, so he met me at my house at 5pm. Genaro decided to come along, since I had an extra ticket for today's show. Dave had an extra one, too, which he sold at the venue.
Okkervil River opened. They were fun, and I enjoyed their set.
We ran into Tina and Wayne after the first set. We talked to them for a little while.
The Decemberists went on just after 9pm. As I had imagined they would, they opened with The Infanta. Next, they played July, July!, followed by We Both Go Down Together (during which Colin and Petra started randomly laughing for some reason). Leslie Anne Levine came next, then The Gymnast, High Above the Ground and The Bagman's Gambit. The Soldiering Life followed, and The Sporting Life followed that. Next was From My Own True Love (Lost At Sea), Sixteen Military Wives, The Engine Driver, On the Bus Mall, Los Angeles, I'm Yours, and Billy Liar.
They ended their set with The Mariner's Revenge Song (which happens to be my favourite song off of the new album), during which they asked the audience to participate by "screaming as if swallowed by a whale, when one of the band members gives the signal." (They had previously asked for the audience to participate by stomping their feet in a particular rhythm during Los Angeles, I'm Yours). Colin messed up during this song; starting one of the verses too early. He caught himself, said, "Wait, that's not it ..." and restarted with the correct verse (the song is about 9 minutes long, so it's understandable how he could mess up).
For their encore, they played Eli, the Barrowboy. After that song, Colin announced, "We have one more for you ....... we haven't played this in a while."
I turned and commented to Dave jokingly, "Wouldn't it be funny if they played Tain?" He responded, "There's no way they would play Tain. Maybe a part of it, but not all of it."
No sooner had he said that then we heard the unmistakable guitar twang intro to The Tain. I was very happily surprised. For those of you not familiar with The Decemberists, or that particular recording, The Tain is an 18-minute-long, 4-part song. It was completely shocking that they would play it after already playing such a long set. I actually don't know that I've ever heard of them playing it live. It was awesome, even when Petra made a lyrical mistake about halfway through, proclaiming "FUCK!", and then restarting the verse. The band didn't miss a beat. (Personally, I think it's understandable that Petra messed up. She is, after all, a new member of the band ... and wasn't with the group when The Tain was originally recorded).
During one song, someone threw a paper airplane on stage. Colin opened it up, and read a note that was something like, "We love you, and hoochie something-or-other." (Colin had a confused face while reading the last part). He then said, "and here's a picture of us ... and ... a leprechaun?"
During another song, someone threw a wadded up piece of paper on stage -- giving nod to the recently-released video for Sixteen Military Wives, at the end of which Colin is pelted by paper wads (everyone should watch the video, it's good).
The entire show was outstanding. The set was just shy of two hours ... quite a bit longer than the "forty-five minutes to an hour" that Genaro had said he thought it would be. They played every song off of their new album except for Of Angels and Angles.
I'm very much looking forward to tomorrow's show as well (though I'm not too excited to have to drive to SF again). Jayme's coming with me, and it should be fun.
That's all for now.
Tonight was the (first) Decemberists show. It was incredible. (Speaking of them, their new album -- Picaresque -- came out today. Everyone should go buy it).
I told Dave that I would drive, so he met me at my house at 5pm. Genaro decided to come along, since I had an extra ticket for today's show. Dave had an extra one, too, which he sold at the venue.
Okkervil River opened. They were fun, and I enjoyed their set.
We ran into Tina and Wayne after the first set. We talked to them for a little while.
The Decemberists went on just after 9pm. As I had imagined they would, they opened with The Infanta. Next, they played July, July!, followed by We Both Go Down Together (during which Colin and Petra started randomly laughing for some reason). Leslie Anne Levine came next, then The Gymnast, High Above the Ground and The Bagman's Gambit. The Soldiering Life followed, and The Sporting Life followed that. Next was From My Own True Love (Lost At Sea), Sixteen Military Wives, The Engine Driver, On the Bus Mall, Los Angeles, I'm Yours, and Billy Liar.
They ended their set with The Mariner's Revenge Song (which happens to be my favourite song off of the new album), during which they asked the audience to participate by "screaming as if swallowed by a whale, when one of the band members gives the signal." (They had previously asked for the audience to participate by stomping their feet in a particular rhythm during Los Angeles, I'm Yours). Colin messed up during this song; starting one of the verses too early. He caught himself, said, "Wait, that's not it ..." and restarted with the correct verse (the song is about 9 minutes long, so it's understandable how he could mess up).
For their encore, they played Eli, the Barrowboy. After that song, Colin announced, "We have one more for you ....... we haven't played this in a while."
I turned and commented to Dave jokingly, "Wouldn't it be funny if they played Tain?" He responded, "There's no way they would play Tain. Maybe a part of it, but not all of it."
No sooner had he said that then we heard the unmistakable guitar twang intro to The Tain. I was very happily surprised. For those of you not familiar with The Decemberists, or that particular recording, The Tain is an 18-minute-long, 4-part song. It was completely shocking that they would play it after already playing such a long set. I actually don't know that I've ever heard of them playing it live. It was awesome, even when Petra made a lyrical mistake about halfway through, proclaiming "FUCK!", and then restarting the verse. The band didn't miss a beat. (Personally, I think it's understandable that Petra messed up. She is, after all, a new member of the band ... and wasn't with the group when The Tain was originally recorded).
During one song, someone threw a paper airplane on stage. Colin opened it up, and read a note that was something like, "We love you, and hoochie something-or-other." (Colin had a confused face while reading the last part). He then said, "and here's a picture of us ... and ... a leprechaun?"
During another song, someone threw a wadded up piece of paper on stage -- giving nod to the recently-released video for Sixteen Military Wives, at the end of which Colin is pelted by paper wads (everyone should watch the video, it's good).
The entire show was outstanding. The set was just shy of two hours ... quite a bit longer than the "forty-five minutes to an hour" that Genaro had said he thought it would be. They played every song off of their new album except for Of Angels and Angles.
I'm very much looking forward to tomorrow's show as well (though I'm not too excited to have to drive to SF again). Jayme's coming with me, and it should be fun.
That's all for now.