I am a (relatively) late convert to Modest Mouse and it’s all my own fault. I was a huge Built to Spill fan in the mid to late 90’s and as such one would think then that I would have been a Modest Mouse fan from the outset. Instead, I was a stubborn teenager who thought they were ripping off one of my favorite bands. I could not have been more wrong. I remember hearing “Dramamine” off of their debut album This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About and thinking it sounded just like a Doug Marsch tune and wrote them off as copy cats. Again, a premature judgement of a band who were, in essence, paying tribute to their Pacific Northwest contemporaries, not ripping them off. Needless to say, I am humbled to admit my wrongs and happy to have arrived late than not at all. I made sure then that I wasn’t late to their sold out show at College Street Music Hall in New Haven, CT on October 21st, 2015.
Philadelphia freak-folk rockers Hop Along opened with a rousing set to begin the evening before giving the stage to a surprisingly large cast of 8 musicians in Modest Mouse’s evolving lineup. Of course, founder and frontman Issac Brock was front and center leading the eclectic eight in a romp through the 90’s and 2000’s playing tracks from their debut album to their groundbreaking The Lonesome Crowded West on through their latest release, 2015’s Strangers To Ourselves. They played something for everyone and as has become the case in recent years, it was a diverse crowd of fans.
Brock was sweaty and surly from the get go. He sung, screamed, and jerked his guitar about while taking the mic between songs to poke fun at the erudite Yalies that were likely in attendance. (Yale is located in New Haven, CT for the unaware) Still, as is well documented, Brock seemed happiest while playing the loosely autobiographical tunes he’s come to be known for. He was in his element and as such the other players followed suit, making for a memorable evening.
If you are among the unconverted, worry not, you have a few more opportunities to catch the current iteration of mice who will be on tour in the south before heading back to their neck of the woods playing two nights at the Crystal Ballroom in Portland, Oregon.
Setlist:
The Whale Song
Talking Shit About a Pretty Sunset
Invisible
Styrofoam Boots/It’s All Nice on Ice, Alright
Tiny Cities Made of Ashes
Lampshades on Fire
3rd Planet
Black Cadillacs
King Rat
Bukowski
Coyotes
Here’s to Now
(Ugly Casanova cover)
The Best Room
Dashboard
Heart Cooks Brain
The Tortoise and the Tourist
Doin’ the Cockroach
Encore:
Strangers to Ourselves
Fire It Up
Gravity Rides Everything
Shit in Your Cut
Ocean Breathes Salty
Shit Luck
