Last Night Johnny Marr Can Still Kick Your Ass
posted by on March 22 at 0:38 AM
Just got back from the Modest Mouse show in South Lake Union Park at the Naval Reserve Building, which is basically just a big high school gym without the wooden retractable bleachers.
Before getting to the headliners, just a word or two about the opening band, Blitzen Trapper, a Portland collective of sorts who alternately sound like Pavement, the Dead, Gram Parsons, and Lynyrd Skynyrd (sometimes all in the same song). Overcoming some poor sound (muddy vocals, drowned guitars), the band rocked, picking up steam as their short set progressed. The highlights were tracks from their newest album Wild Mountain Nation, which comes out in June, especially “Country Caravan” and the title track, which seems as appropriate an anthem as any for this eclectic and energetic band. The rollicking sextet was having one hell of a time up there and I look forward to seeing them again in a venue where the acoustics are a bit better.
Now to the world-conquering Mouse. First, Isaac did not cut himself while on stage, although he did play the guitar with his teeth (sorta) during a dark, electro-80s-tinged version of “Tiny Cities Made of Ashes.” The set was solid, though it did focus on newer material with just one track from The Lonesome Crowded West (“Doin’ the Cockroach”) and nothing from earlier albums. Still, the band was tight and there was only one misstep when “Paper Thin Walls” had to be restarted after a botched transition.
The evening was certainly more polished, more, dare I say it?, professional than Modest Mouse ever was. Did it take away some of the what-the-hell-are-they-going-to-do-next? excitement? Perhaps. But the trade-off was a tight, solid sound that was both sharp-edged and adventurous when it needed to be. A few standouts: “The View,” “Doin’ the Cockroach,” “We’ve Got Everything,” and the sweet “Little Motel,” which might be my favorite Modest Mouse song since “Trailer Trash.”
And confidential to all you 25-year-olds trying to be the next Johnny Marr: The motherfucker’s still here and he’s still kicking your ass. Besides looking not a day over 27 and busting out some strong 80s guitar moves (including a half windmill), the man provided a perfect foil to Isaac’s crazy energy with his cool, confident guitar work.
All in all, a strong show by a band that’s clearly feeling more comfortable in their skins than ever.
MM was incredible. too bad the crowd was kind of out of it. I thought the audience lacked energy.
I don't know, I don't think Blitzen Trapper overcame the poor sound at all - it was pretty much impossible to tell what was going on for any of their songs. The couple slower, country-ish ones came off OK, as they seemed to fit the reverb-chamber of the room a bit better, but the fast, manic songs just sounded like a mess. (Oh, and is it just me, or is it annoying when bands say "we just have a couple more songs" and proceed to play 3 or more songs? "A couple" means TWO, people!) They did appear to be having fun, though.
Modest Mouse definitely sounded way better, and when they loosened up on the older stuff it was a joy. But still, the sound was pretty awful; I would not recommend anyone ever playing a show there again.
I had to keep reminding myself to look at Johnny Marr and think "damn, that's Johnny Marr!" He fits seamlessly into the band. "Doin' the Cockroach" was great; I decided to make that the closer and left as they were kicking into the Ford commercial.
It's true, arturod - but I think when you half-fill an acoustically problematic room with people who won tickets by calling in to radio stations, well, I guess I just expected the crowd to be pretty flat. And they certainly were.
Levislade - I,too, hope that I never go to another show in that room. But you should have stuck around for the encore. It was something.
what was that encore song? nobody i was w could figure it out. im about to dig into the new album to try to find out. totally badass.
encore songs:
the view and spitting venom from the new album
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