The Decemberists with Alvvays at the Northrop Auditorium, 3/24/15

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I don't like the way Alvvays sounds, and the sound was mixed terribly, so I couldn't understand what the singer was saying. If it doesn't sound good and I can't understand the content, there's really nothing left to appreciate. I guess I'll leave it at that.

The first time I saw the Decemberists, it was 2004, and they were on The Crane Wife tour, playing shows with philharmonics in major cities. If that sounds like a high-budget venture, it probably was. That was the highest production value of any of their shows I'd seen, until this one.

It's clear that the Decemberists have been doing well over the last decade. They're playing posh sit-down venues, which attracts a much older audience and is definitely not my favorite way to take in a show. I always end up very far away from the stage, for one, but the major problem is that the decorum expected in such a place. There is little cheering, almost no dancing, and you get no control over who you sit next to.

The Decemberists put on a great show, but it's a fairly predictable one. They always do an audience singalong during 16 Military Wives, and they always do The Mariner's Revenge Song during the encore. They stick very closely to the album versions of all their songs. Colin does a bit where he plays what he calls the worst song he ever wrote -- Dracula's Daughter. It's funny, but pretty much only the first time you see it. He does an early version of Calamity Song, which he originally wrote to get his son to eat his oatmeal ("Hank, eat your oatmeal!" is pretty much the extent of the lyrics in that one).

To sum up, it's an entertaining evening, but it's exactly what you expect.

I always enjoy On the Bus Mall live, and they did a nice version of Los Angeles, I'm Yours. I liked that they started with The Singer Addresses His Audience.

Here's the setlist:

The Singer Addresses His Audience
Cavalry Captain
Down by the Water
Hank
Calamity Song
On the Bus Mall
The Wrong Year
Make You Better
The Island
Los Angeles, I'm Yours
Carolina Low
Margaret in the Taiga
The Rake Song
16 Military Wives
Dracula's Daughter
O Valencia
__
June Hymn
Mariner's Revenge Song

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