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Decemberists Concert
... Did that really happen?
There were an inordinate number of bespectacled people in the audience. And a surprising proportion of attractive ones – not just to me, either, Rawrsie commented on it too. Obviously listening to hyper-literate folk-prog-rock-alternative-indie music makes you better-looking.
Mr Meloy prefaced '16 Military Wives' with something along the lines of 'Let this serve as a warning to you, Canada.' Not entirely sure what he meant by that but practically any interpretation could be applicable.
They did a song that didn't make it onto Crane Wife because Jenny Conlee thought it was too violent (!) – all I could make out of the lyrics was something about taking your girlfriend down to the river and breaking her bones; even though this may be difficult, someone's gotta do it. (?) My synopsis makes it sound a lot more gruesome than the actual song was ... in practise it wasn't that much more violent than, say 'On the Banks of the Ohio' (or at least the version that was on A Prairie Home Companion which had a couple extra verses and line changes I can't find online right now). I hope it's on an upcoming CD, it was rockin'. Speaking of PHC, Colin Meloy bears an uncanny resemblance to a young Garrison Keillor. What an odd world it would be if he took over the show ... They both seem to have a fondness for Americana, telling stories, and murder ballads, but that's about where the similarities end, as far as I know.
They've got another violinist. HUZZAH. Everything's better with a violin in it. Especially 'You'll Not Feel the Drowning,' which is already awesome because it has a cello. And 'The Perfect Crime #2,' which is good on the CD (though I must admit I mostly listen through it just to hear the line 'It was like a ticker-tape parade/When the plastique on the safe was blown away') but was AWESOME live. Heck, everything was awesome live. But the degree to which that song was more awesome than on the CD was specifically notable. Anyway, this violinist also did some backup singing but her pitch wasn't great (odd for a violinist ... maybe it was just too loud for her to hear herself?) ... oh well, give her time, I guess.
Mr Meloy sent his guitar crowd-surfing. And took the digital camera of someone near the front and went around taking closeups of the band, then gave the camera back. And sang into someone's phone. And made the whole audience sit down while Chris Funk told them a story ... the ones who were near enough to him to hear him unmic'd anyway.
It was INCREDIBLY WEIRD to see 'We Both Go Down Together' performed live. I knew I was going to see them in concert before I even bought The Crane Wife and the songs from their other albums I'm not quite as familiar with or attached to, but 'We Both Go Down Together' was the second song of theirs I ever heard and to see actual people on an actual stage actually making the song happen ... that was surreal.
The Program: (in no real order)
Crane Wife #3
The Island (all three parts, naturally)
Shankill Butchers
O Valencia
16 Military Wives
Yankee Bayonet
We Both Go Down Together
The Perfect Crime #2
The aforementioned rivery murder song
Song For Myla Goldberg
The Engine Driver
The Crane Wife #1&2
Sons & Daughters
Encore:
A solo Meloy thing
The Chimbley Sweep (which lasted about 15 minutes, with much silliness)
I am sorely tempted to go again tonight, but I really shouldn't because I only got four hours of sleep last night and I'm coming down with something. But then, if I pick up a white handkerchief somewhere, my cough could just be in the spirit of the thing .... No! Mustn't! I have to stay awake for the choir concert on Friday! And ... go to work the next day, of course. But I have never had so much fun at something so loud. Well, OK, I had fun at the Christmas party but that was in spite of the music, not because of it.
La de dah de dah de diddy diddy dah!
Whoa, LJ's got a new updatey page...
There were an inordinate number of bespectacled people in the audience. And a surprising proportion of attractive ones – not just to me, either, Rawrsie commented on it too. Obviously listening to hyper-literate folk-prog-rock-alternative-indie music makes you better-looking.
Mr Meloy prefaced '16 Military Wives' with something along the lines of 'Let this serve as a warning to you, Canada.' Not entirely sure what he meant by that but practically any interpretation could be applicable.
They did a song that didn't make it onto Crane Wife because Jenny Conlee thought it was too violent (!) – all I could make out of the lyrics was something about taking your girlfriend down to the river and breaking her bones; even though this may be difficult, someone's gotta do it. (?) My synopsis makes it sound a lot more gruesome than the actual song was ... in practise it wasn't that much more violent than, say 'On the Banks of the Ohio' (or at least the version that was on A Prairie Home Companion which had a couple extra verses and line changes I can't find online right now). I hope it's on an upcoming CD, it was rockin'. Speaking of PHC, Colin Meloy bears an uncanny resemblance to a young Garrison Keillor. What an odd world it would be if he took over the show ... They both seem to have a fondness for Americana, telling stories, and murder ballads, but that's about where the similarities end, as far as I know.
They've got another violinist. HUZZAH. Everything's better with a violin in it. Especially 'You'll Not Feel the Drowning,' which is already awesome because it has a cello. And 'The Perfect Crime #2,' which is good on the CD (though I must admit I mostly listen through it just to hear the line 'It was like a ticker-tape parade/When the plastique on the safe was blown away') but was AWESOME live. Heck, everything was awesome live. But the degree to which that song was more awesome than on the CD was specifically notable. Anyway, this violinist also did some backup singing but her pitch wasn't great (odd for a violinist ... maybe it was just too loud for her to hear herself?) ... oh well, give her time, I guess.
Mr Meloy sent his guitar crowd-surfing. And took the digital camera of someone near the front and went around taking closeups of the band, then gave the camera back. And sang into someone's phone. And made the whole audience sit down while Chris Funk told them a story ... the ones who were near enough to him to hear him unmic'd anyway.
It was INCREDIBLY WEIRD to see 'We Both Go Down Together' performed live. I knew I was going to see them in concert before I even bought The Crane Wife and the songs from their other albums I'm not quite as familiar with or attached to, but 'We Both Go Down Together' was the second song of theirs I ever heard and to see actual people on an actual stage actually making the song happen ... that was surreal.
The Program: (in no real order)
Crane Wife #3
The Island (all three parts, naturally)
Shankill Butchers
O Valencia
16 Military Wives
Yankee Bayonet
We Both Go Down Together
The Perfect Crime #2
The aforementioned rivery murder song
Song For Myla Goldberg
The Engine Driver
The Crane Wife #1&2
Sons & Daughters
Encore:
A solo Meloy thing
The Chimbley Sweep (which lasted about 15 minutes, with much silliness)
I am sorely tempted to go again tonight, but I really shouldn't because I only got four hours of sleep last night and I'm coming down with something. But then, if I pick up a white handkerchief somewhere, my cough could just be in the spirit of the thing .... No! Mustn't! I have to stay awake for the choir concert on Friday! And ... go to work the next day, of course. But I have never had so much fun at something so loud. Well, OK, I had fun at the Christmas party but that was in spite of the music, not because of it.
La de dah de dah de diddy diddy dah!
Whoa, LJ's got a new updatey page...
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