Modest Mouse Gives A Solid Performance
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony [email protected]
Taking the stage in front of a general admission crowd in the Egyptian Room, allowing all who wanted to get as close as they could, the band opened on a high note, rocking out "Black Cadillacs." The song isn't one of the group's biggest hits, but it's definitely one of its hardest-rocking, setting the tone just right.
After sitting right up front and personal in the photographer's pit for the first three songs, I was able to venture on back afterward, getting the vibe from the crowd. Filled with 20-somethings, high-school-aged kids and more than a few fans of the older generation, it was indeed an eclectic audience.
Standing at a safe enough distance to hear the music, while also getting a prime view of the performers, I was able to witness just how diverse a Modest Mouse crowd has become.
There are the fans who seem to be less than enthused, if not upset, with the band's last two albums, those who began listening following the release of the hit song "Float On" and even those who didn't seem to know what kind of music they were listening to. The latter fans were easily decipherable, as one couple appeared to be dancing way too close together for a concert, while one indie rock fan was doing her interpretive dancing to the beat, if not off-beat. I wish I could just overlook such fans, but the Elaine Benes-like herky, jerky movements of the indie fan was just way too hard to ignore.
But I'm getting off the point.
For this fan, the night's highlight came with a rip-roaring set of "Tiny Cities Made of Ashes." Fresh off lighting up his cigarette, Brock appeared to be making his throat even raspier in anticipation of the energy-filled song, belting out the lyrics, "Does anybody know a way that a body could get away/Does anybody know a way," like he really, really meant it. Accompanied with bright lights that would go up with each oncoming chorus, those inclined to get as close to the stage as possible found out just why they did so: To jump up and down and sing along with their fellow Modest Mouse cohorts.
The majority of the night's playlist came from the album "Good News for People Who Love Bad News," including the aforementioned "Black Cadillacs" and "Float On," along with "Bury Me With It," "Bukowski" and "Satin In a Coffin."
But throughout, the band did a good job of making everyone happy, belting out recent hits to go along with songs such as "Doin' the Cockroach," a head-bobbing, seven-minute song from "The Lonesome Crowded West," the band's second full-length album. Along with that extended song, Brock also broke out another song over seven minutes, by closing the set with "Spitting Venom," a song he intertwined with "I Came as a Rat," putting a nice bow on the show.
In the end, the guys from Seattle played for about an hour-and-a-half, which is pretty standard for any band playing a Monday night show in a party town such as Indianapolis.
So just as the band's final words from its final song said, "Cheer up baby, it really wasn't always quite so bad/For every bit of venom that came out, the antidote was had."
Taking the stage in front of a general admission crowd in the Egyptian Room, allowing all who wanted to get as close as they could, the band opened on a high note, rocking out "Black Cadillacs." The song isn't one of the group's biggest hits, but it's definitely one of its hardest-rocking, setting the tone just right.
After sitting right up front and personal in the photographer's pit for the first three songs, I was able to venture on back afterward, getting the vibe from the crowd. Filled with 20-somethings, high-school-aged kids and more than a few fans of the older generation, it was indeed an eclectic audience.
Standing at a safe enough distance to hear the music, while also getting a prime view of the performers, I was able to witness just how diverse a Modest Mouse crowd has become.
There are the fans who seem to be less than enthused, if not upset, with the band's last two albums, those who began listening following the release of the hit song "Float On" and even those who didn't seem to know what kind of music they were listening to. The latter fans were easily decipherable, as one couple appeared to be dancing way too close together for a concert, while one indie rock fan was doing her interpretive dancing to the beat, if not off-beat. I wish I could just overlook such fans, but the Elaine Benes-like herky, jerky movements of the indie fan was just way too hard to ignore.
But I'm getting off the point.
For this fan, the night's highlight came with a rip-roaring set of "Tiny Cities Made of Ashes." Fresh off lighting up his cigarette, Brock appeared to be making his throat even raspier in anticipation of the energy-filled song, belting out the lyrics, "Does anybody know a way that a body could get away/Does anybody know a way," like he really, really meant it. Accompanied with bright lights that would go up with each oncoming chorus, those inclined to get as close to the stage as possible found out just why they did so: To jump up and down and sing along with their fellow Modest Mouse cohorts.
The majority of the night's playlist came from the album "Good News for People Who Love Bad News," including the aforementioned "Black Cadillacs" and "Float On," along with "Bury Me With It," "Bukowski" and "Satin In a Coffin."
But throughout, the band did a good job of making everyone happy, belting out recent hits to go along with songs such as "Doin' the Cockroach," a head-bobbing, seven-minute song from "The Lonesome Crowded West," the band's second full-length album. Along with that extended song, Brock also broke out another song over seven minutes, by closing the set with "Spitting Venom," a song he intertwined with "I Came as a Rat," putting a nice bow on the show.
In the end, the guys from Seattle played for about an hour-and-a-half, which is pretty standard for any band playing a Monday night show in a party town such as Indianapolis.
So just as the band's final words from its final song said, "Cheer up baby, it really wasn't always quite so bad/For every bit of venom that came out, the antidote was had."
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