The Decemberists/Mountain Man

Months ago, I heard a rumor the Decemberists were coming to town.  That was on a Friday.  The following Monday it was made official, and the date was announced - Feb. 7 at Uptown.  Prior to the date announcement my friend Katie (who lives in St. Louis) was talking of coming up to see the show, but when it turned out to be on a Monday she couldn't justify the 4-hour drive and/or missing work for it.

I was still bound & determined to go, until I got a bill from American Family for my homeowners' insurance.  I'd never gotten a bill from them, as it is supposed to be billed to my mortgage company.  I had to pay it in order to make sure my house stayed insured, and they are supposed to reimburse me after Wells Fargo pays them, 'within 3 weeks or so'.  Basically, I had no spending money.  So when The Wayward Blog posted that anyone could comment on their Decemberists Facebook post with why they should give you tickets, and they'd pick a winner, I figured I'd give it a shot.  I posted about the insurance mix-up, AND I WON!  WOOHOO!


So Jenny & I went.  AND THEY WERE AMAZING LIVE.  Also, Mountain Man was the opener.  It's 3 ladies and an acoustic guitar that 2 of them pass back & forth.  I really really enjoyed them.  I planned on buying the LP on my way out but they didn't take cards, and I didn't know my PIN to get cash out of the ATM (long story). 

So Mountain Man came out and wowed with their vocals.  They all had kind of old-fashioned voices, but in very different ways.  They were also great as far as crowd interaction.  They ate up the crowd's energy.  It was just a fun, light-hearted show.  The people behind me were making fun of them, but you know how hipsters are.  If they haven't heard of something, it's obviously because it sucks.  Before the show, I read a quick review of them that compared them to Fleet Foxes.  My first reaction was skepticism.  I love Fleet Foxes, and wasn't sure that anybody quite compared to them...but sure enough, it was a pretty apt comparison.  Only the female version.  Mountain Man's Facebook page lists their genre as night music, which is also pretty appropriate.  Check them out!

Then the Decemberists took the stage.  Having never seen them live, I wasn't sure what to expect.  My first impression was that they were a tight band, but didn't do much to engage the crowd.  A solid show, but a tad stuffy...which would have been disappointing after the humorous, if somewhat goofy, introduction from the mayor of Portland.  Luckily, I turned out to be VERY wrong.  After a few songs, Colin Meloy started talking to the audience more, and he and the drummer John were funny.  By the end of the set, when they closed with a version of  The Outfield's "Your Love" (You know it - 'I don't wanna lose your love, to-niiiiight'), with Colin on drums and John singing, I was smitten.  I wanted to take Colin home with me (not in a dirty way!  although that'd probably be okay too), and be best friends with Jenny (Conlee, the keyboardist/accordion player).  They were incredible live, I can't say that enough.

At one point Colin ended up in the right balcony, a la Ben & Tyler, with the owner of the Uptown and his family.  He stood above the crowd and played the guitar behind his head, showing off just a little bit.  Oh!  And Sara Watkins, that was a nice surprise!  Nobody is quite like her on the fiddle!
  
Anyway, I'm told they did 2 encores, but I had to find Jenny after the first one and we ended up leaving.  But I left happy.

2-4

I am starting to find numbering the posts obnoxious, but I don't want to lose track either.... Hmmm.... Maybe I'll start putting the numbers as tags. That's a good idea I just thought of. So it's decided.

Ahhh, October 14th. I don't remember ANYTHING that happened at work, because I spent the entire day anticipating the Band of Horses show that evening. If there's a man I love to see on stage more than Andy, it's Ben Bridwell. And Tyler Ramsey....ooooohhh Tyler Ramsey. I am madly in love with these 2 men, and while I never expected Tyler to become officially part of the band, I love that he did.

Ben & Tyler start the show from the box

They began the show in what used to be the box seats when the Uptown was still a live theater. They sat up there while the other bands played, and I like to think the idea came to them then. Everyone was excited, the band was about to come out, and then the hubbub started. You look up, and there they were, doing a parade wave down to the audience. Ben explained, "The stage is just too big," then they did "Evening Kitchen", a song on their latest album (Infinite Arms) that Tyler wrote. After that, they stayed up there for an acoustic version of "No One's Gonna Love You", which was wonnnnderful!

Then they headed to the stage and joined the rest of the band for (mostly) the rest of the set. There was a time where Ben was back up in the wings for the majority of a song... I can't remember for sure which.

As always, Ben's smoking and drinking during the set made me a happy gal. He's a badass. As a sidenote, he looked like he might have been on X or something during this show, too. But again, that only makes me love him more. He kept saying what a blast he was having, and it was contagious.

The General Specific wasn't quite as rousing as I've seen it before, but at least they played it. That was my biggest beef last time I saw them - no appearance of my favorite song.

I can't decide which time I've seen them was my favorite - they are all so different and so wonderful in their own way... This one kept me a believer, though, and that's the most important thing.

I'm going to go ahead and say this: It took me a long time to adjust to Infinite Arms. It was their first major label release, and without even knowing that, you could listen to the 3 albums and definitely tell. They've reined themselves in a little, and while I finally do love the album, that bums me out for sure. While their set that night included nearly, if not completely, all of their newest album, I was happy that they also included a ton of older stuff. As their catalog gets bigger, that means I will miss more & more songs at each show, so I'm savoring this tour for the fact that I heard most of my long-time favorites.

Horse Power! (hahaha, get it?)