The Decemberists make grand return to Connecticut

I feel like Bill Hader’s Stefon character saying this but “New Haven’s hottest club is College Street Music Hall.” A renovated theater on College Street, it mixes the old architecture of New Haven with modern amenities. While during the same week, the venue would house shows by Whitesnake and Neon Trees. It seemed like a most fitting venue for Lady Lamb and the Decemberists.

The majority of Lady Lamb’s previous stops in Connecticut have all been at smaller venues like local dive bar Cafe Nine or your friend’s basement, The Space; to see her on the large stage of College Street was a bit odd. Being so far removed from the crowd, there seemed to be a bit less connectivity but it didn’t really effect the quality of the music. With the majority of the set coming from this year’s After album, the Connecticut crowd proved themselves well versed in the Maine chanteuse’s catalog.

By the time Colin Meloy and company hit the stage, the balcony had filled in nicely and the floor was jam packed. Kicking things off with “The Singer Addresses His Audience” from the band’s most recent offering What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World before breaking into old favorite “July, July”, the set was well delineated between albums. Perhaps the biggest thrill was hearing “The Sporting Life” which the band has not played with much frequency since 2009.

The band left the stage with “A Beginning Song,” not exactly a barn-burner but the closing song from their most recent album so it was expected. Also expected is that the band would come out for an encore. What wasn’t expected is they would play the entire The Hazards of Love EP. The EP ends on a fairly down note which the band extended into an instrumental which is currently listed as “(Unknown)” on setlist.fm.

When the band left the stage, the house lights were never turned on. Everyone knew the band couldn’t go out on a down note like that. Boy were they surprised when Meloy re-entered the stage to play “12/17/12” which he explained was about the Sandy Hook shootings, a still very real and fresh would in Connecticut history. The incredibly depressing song really did not get the crowd going. Then Meloy had to make the really awkward transition to the band’s traditional closing “The Mariner’s Revenge Song.”

If you’ve never seen the Decemberists before, “The Mariner’s Revenge Song” is a must see performance complete with the band being swallowed by a whale coming across the stage. It was a fun way to end an otherwise questionable choices of encores.

The Decemberists @ College Street Music Halljpg_20912654209_l
The Decemberists @ College Street Music Hall-2jpg_21089378612_l
The Decemberists @ College Street Music Hall-3jpg_20912672229_l
The Decemberists @ College Street Music Hall-4jpg_21107171991_l
The Decemberists @ College Street Music Hall-5jpg_20912680719_l
The Decemberists @ College Street Music Hall-6jpg_20476873034_l
The Decemberists @ College Street Music Hall-7jpg_20476878124_l
The Decemberists @ College Street Music Hall-8jpg_21073294516_l
The Decemberists @ College Street Music Hall-9jpg_20478427023_l
The Decemberists @ College Street Music Hall-10jpg_21107203111_l
The Decemberists @ College Street Music Hall-11jpg_21073304906_l
The Decemberists @ College Street Music Hall-12jpg_21107211191_l
The Decemberists @ College Street Music Hall-13jpg_20476905474_l
The Decemberists @ College Street Music Hall-14jpg_20911435900_l
The Decemberists @ College Street Music Hall-15jpg_21089446292_l
The Decemberists @ College Street Music Hall-16jpg_20911637948_l
The Decemberists @ College Street Music Hall-17jpg_20476925424_l
The Decemberists @ College Street Music Hall-18jpg_20476932604_l
The Decemberists @ College Street Music Hall-19jpg_20478474083_l
The Decemberists @ College Street Music Hall-20jpg_20476944554_l
The Decemberists @ College Street Music Hall-21jpg_20912767009_l
The Decemberists @ College Street Music Hall-22jpg_21089491392_l
The Decemberists @ College Street Music Hall-23jpg_20478499993_l
The Decemberists @ College Street Music Hall-24jpg_20476967124_l
The Decemberists @ College Street Music Hall-25jpg_21099575895_l


Leave a Reply