MODEST MOUSE SETLIST Dramamine
THE CRIBS SETLIST Running Into You |
As the casket lid closes, all is forgiven--
Longtime Portland alternative band Modest Mouse is closing out their Golden Casket Tour, in support of the 2021 album of the same name (on Epic Records) and played an outdoor show at GrindersKC in downtown Kansas City, MO (postponed from May due to inclement weather).
The evening began with the long-awaited local return of Wakefield, UK’s Jarman brothers (Gary, Ryan, Ross), aka The Cribs, in support of 2020’s Night Network. We’ve followed the band for over fifteen years, (even before we started writing about them) since their initial UK singles and early Minneapolis gigs, one of which was on August 1, 2007, just after the news of the I-35 bridge collapse was coming out.
In addition to recent work, the band is currently having a massive renaissance in their native UK, having re-released their first three albums in late July, with all immediately going Top Ten. According to the band, it had been some fifteen years since their last time in KC, so their return was long anticipated by fans, and things got off to a fast start with the new “Running into You” and 2007’s banging, “I’m a Realist”.
The crowd enjoyed the spoken word/sung vocals of “Be Safe” (a song title that’s taken on a more relevant meaning over the last couple years), the affront to self-vanity on 2005’s “Mirror Kissers”, and the set-ending exclamation of “Men’s Needs” then the building sonics of 2015’s “Pink Snow”.
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It’s hard but wonderful to believe that Modest Mouse has been a band for thirty years now, (formed in Washington state in 1992) and has continued to broaden its sound and manage to still challenge its listeners. The newest album is the universally-acclaimed The Golden Casket from last year, but last year also marked the departures of two longtime members, signaling even more evolution is yet to come.
The band likes to keep itself and fans on their toes, usually shuffling the setlist into something different every night, and their live performances (like some studio efforts) can be disorganized and seemingly haphazard, but often wonderful and endearing. In particular, the band has had a couple of less-than-stellar live local appearances (more than fifteen years ago, one in this same venue) that have seemed to dog their area reputation ever since.
This night though, would be the complete opposite of that, with a memorable two-hour headlining set, that seemed focused, solidly arranged, and without any negative incident. Singer Isaac Brock was in exceptionally good spirits, initially thanking the crowd for coming out on their holiday evening, and also apologizing for anything done (or not done) in the past. Between the sincerity of that, and the admirable performance, we think it’s safe to say all is forgiven!
Reaching back to begin with 1996’s “Dramamine”, the crowd knew right away that they’d be hearing a broad brush of all three decades of the band and hearing Brock sing, “We are between, somewhere between dust and the stars” from the new album’s lead single, on a late summer outdoor night, seemed a completely ideal scenario.
We caught this same tour, just as it was starting, last August in Minneapolis, and can assuredly say, that the band has even gotten better since, with their live pacing, musicianship, and sonic maturity.
Fans used their hit, “Fire It Up” as an excuse to toast it up, as raised glasses went in the air, and after a few inside jokes, Brock started in on 2000’s “3rd Planet” before quickly realizing it was in the wrong key, before swiftly correcting things.
The calliope, twisted sea shanty of “Sugar Boats” gave way to the slower pace of the new “Wooden Soldiers” and finding Brock getting somewhat metaphysical, repeating “Just being here now is enough for me”, a notion we all now value more than before.
A toe-tapping, riffed “How Ya Doin’?” had Brock pointing and lightheartedly saying hello numerous times, a ditty that could be the unofficial theme song to Joey from Friends and 2004’s “Float On” (of course) had everyone up and singing along, with the spanning new “Back to the Middle” closing out the main set.
Brock teased the crowd’s encore chant of “one more song!”, saying they would be playing many more songs, and that they should hone their negotiation skills, beginning the five-song encore, with “Wild Packs of Family Dogs” and the hushed tones of the new record’s “Lace Your Shoes”.
2007’s “Dashboard” (co-written by The Smiths guitarist and one-time member, Johnny Marr, also previously with The Cribs) illicited a big rise from the audience and the evening would end with another from We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank, the epic chord-changing “Spitting Venom” with Brock singing, “it’s over, Game over”.
Brock thanked the crowd one last time as the band marched off, the lid on this Golden Casket show closing, and for Modest Mouse a definite piece of local redemption- a solid live performance, and in general, a return to good graces for even their harshest area critics.
The band returns to the road this fall, celebrating the 25th anniversary of their second studio album, The Lonesome Crowded West.
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MODEST MOUSE TOUR DATES SEP 6 THE COTILLION BALLROOM WICHITA, KS |
(Click on any image to enlarge and see in full)
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| john c ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com |
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