What was all this talk about Modest Mouse only playing new songs at On The Bright Side? I just saw the setlist then and it was pretty much ONLY old stuff. Just because it’s super old and you don’t know what it is, doesn’t a new song make! Pfft. Anyway, for one reason or another I went into this Modest Mouse gig expecting a lot of new songs. I think a lot of other people did too. But alas, Modest Mouse once again overwhelmed with an impressively diverse collection of their back catalogue, played to perfection and sounding as good as ever.
Yawn. Predictable amazing Modest Mouse.
Fuck the haters. I’ll take a band playing nothing but new shit any day. Well, as long as that band plays “Bukowski” in the encore as they did tonight, and then it really doesn’t matter what else came before it. I’ll leave with a smile on my face regardless.
But before we get back to that (and yes, I am being facetious. I’m a fan and love hearing the old stuff as much as the next guy… Good News for People Who Love Bad News is easily in my top five albums of all time), let’s talk about our good friends Deep Sea Arcade, tonight playing the Enmore Theatre for the first time, in front of an enthusiastic hometown crowd, supporting the modest mice.
I sometimes feel like a broken record when it comes to this band. If you read my blurbs often you’ll know I’m a fan. These guys have been honing their craft for years, and I’ve felt in the last 12 months they’ve really come into their own, getting set to bombard us with their best material yet (potentially). Clearly humbled by the experience, Nic McKenzie couldn’t wipe a smile off his face as tracks like “Don’t Be Sorry” and their best known “Lonely In Your Arms” got a huge reception from the excited crowd. It helped that they were sounding as good as ever (though their performance at the Oxford Art Factory a while back still ranks as their personal best… I’m sure I wrote about it somewhere…). I doubt it will be long before they grace the same stage as headliners… just you wait!
Speaking of the headliners, Modest Mouse – complete with their 2 drummers and 4 instrumentalists – erupted onto the stage in glorious fashion with the much loved “Satin in a Coffin”, while an impressive light show backed them up. “The View” (also off Good News…) followed closely behind, and then “Dramamine” was the clincher to convince the crowd ‘OK, so they are going to play the good stuff…’. In this particular track, Isaac Brock used his teeth and screamed into his guitar to monstrously radical effect. See photo above.
Isaac got in the mood for conversation throughout the show, talking about how shitty the weather has been back home, how our winter was their summer, and how the bums who drank near his house needed to sleep more. Terribly entertaining and never overdone, he’s the sort of guy, though occasionally intimidating *cue Isaac’s stunned/heroic/I may or may not be a rapist face*, that you’d just love to have a beer with.
Violins… Trumpets… Banjos… Maracas… Just about every instrument that you can think of was progressively introduced throughout the set. It was high energy the whole way through, though things were slowed down for “Blame it on the Tetons, a single lighter hanging in the air. Plenty of piano and violins were used for this track, showing just how well they transform their songs live. They’ve certainly evolved over the years – no doubt a method to keep it interesting for themselves as much as it is to spice things up for the crowd!
Indeed, my favourite song from Good News…, “Bukowski” made the cut at the start of the encore, though I have to say the highlight of the set was “The Whale Song” off their most recent EP No One’s First, And You’re Next. “Wild Packs of Family Dogs” was the surprising song to close the night out, with “Float On” killing it at the end of the main set.
This is a truly great live band. There’s just no other way to put it. They put it all into every show, every night, and indeed tonight was no exception. Sir Brock, I salute thee.
NO, LARRY, I SALUTE YOU. Awesome face!
Setlist:
1. Satin In A Coffin
2. The View
3. Dramamine
4. Dashboard
5. Fire It Up
6. I Came as a Rat
7. Paper Thin Walls
8. Blame It on the Tetons
9. Dance Hall
10. King Rat
11. Gravity Rides Everything
12. Poison the Well
13. Float On
Encore:
14. Bukowski
15. The Whale Song
16. Wild Packs Of Family Dogs
Photos by Johnny Au
