Modest Mouse Live at Stubb's BBQ 3/4/09

After I was accepted to UT, I began hearing all sorts of neat things about how Austin is the "live music capital of the world," how it's THE place to be if you like live music. Sounded great to me. But, tragically, through all of fall semester, the only live music I saw was one measly day of ACL. Admittedly an awesome day, but that's a pretty pathetic accomplishment for a music lover living in the self-proclaimed capital of live music. Fortunately, soon after spring semester started, show after show was announced and I soon found myself broke after buying tickets to several shows, the first of which was Modest Mouse.

It was my first show at Stubb's BBQ, which is apparently a quite prominent small venue, and I liked the place. I didn't have a lot of time to look around because I arrived as the opening bands were finishing up, but it functioned perfectly well.

I would be lying if I said I'd always been a big Modest Mouse fan. To tell the truth, I only knew two of their albums well (The Moon and Antarctica, Good News For People Who Love Bad News). But I really do enjoy those two albums, and I'd always seen a lot of acclaim for the group, so I purchased a ticket to see the (unfortunately Johnny Marr-less) band. Thanks to my natural sense of impeccable timing and my lanky maneuverability, I arrived as the opening band was wrapping up, but managed to sneak into a quite respectable spot.

Speaking of getting good spots, this might be an opportune time to mention a few of my concert peeves. One: people who shove past you to get to the front. Fuck those people. If you can get through people without physically pushing them out of the way, if you don't touch them or only slightly brush them when passing through, that's okay with me. But when you're pushing your way through and forcing people to step to the side to let you through, that is fucked up shit, and really annoying. Two: people who stick their cameras into the air and take pictures during songs. Keep them down, or do it in between songs if you must. It is really annoying when half the bloody audience has cameras in the air.

But, Modest Mouse. How to put it...they rocked the fuck out. They played at least one song off every album of theirs, with the most represented album being Good News. I would've liked to hear some more of The Moon and Antarctica, especially Tiny Cities Made of Ashes, but you can't always get what you want, I suppose. Fortunately we were spared Dance Hall, possibly my least favorite song by them, which has been rearing its unfortunate head at the occasional show on this tour. We did get one of my current favorites, Paper Thin Walls, which was notable because the band randomly stopped midway through the song, had a smoke and a drink, and then suddenly jumped back in where they left off. It was a bit of a "WTF" moment, but in the best sense possible. They also graced us with two brand spankin' new songs, The Whale Song, and Satellite Skin.

The most memorable highlights were two epic centerpieces, the unreleased Whale Song, and Doin' the Cockroach. Whale Song absolutely blew me away; it started with a bass riff and a tight beat, and turned into a monstrous several-minute instrumental jam, with a short part with vocals in the middle, and an instrumental outro. I know Modest Mouse may not be the first band that leaps to mind when you think "epic instrumental jams," but the song absolutely blew me away. Hopefully the studio version will do it justice. Doin' the Cockroach was also fantastic, and it was easily lead singer Isaac Brock's most spirited performance (though he was consistently energetic and lively): his antics included throwing his mic stand and mic into the audience, thrashing around on the floor, and yelling into his guitar pickups at the top of his lungs. It was absolutely captivating.

Another interesting note was that the band was performing with two drummers; I felt that their music really shone live because of the much more prominent and powerful drumming and percussion that accompanies performances. While the dual drumming seemed a bit gimmicky, it was still neat to watch. Isaac Brock was quite charismatic throughout, and between songs he kept things interesting by wishing crew happy birthday, singing what appeared to be a Wells Fargo jingle, and, most memorably, holding an extended conversation with a pair of fans who were apparently following the band on tour. He was mostly wondering how the fuck they managed to pull that off. While he berated them, it was all in good fun, and it really helped keep the mood light and fun. The only major disappointment of the show was them apparently having to stop playing a song or two early, because of a noise curfew. Very weak.

Watching the band play was great fun and gave me a new appreciation for them; rest assured that Modest Mouse will top my last.fm charts for the next week or two. Highly recommended if you get the chance to see them.

Setlist (my favorites asterisked):

1. 3rd Planet*
2. We've Got Everything
3. Black Cadillacs
4. Here It Comes
5. The View
6. Fire It Up
7. Alone Down There
8. King Rat*
9. Baby Blue Sedan
10. Whale Song*
11. Paper Thin Walls*
12. Blame It On the Tetons
13. Ohio
14. Float On*
15. Doin' the Cockroach*
16. The Good Times Are Killing Me

Encore:
17. Satellite Skin
18. Parting of the Sensory