the Mountain Goats with Oh Pep! at Majestic, Madison, 9/28/16
John and company never let me down. The shows are always a breathtaking moment of escapism provided by a band that somehow never takes itself too seriously while also upholding a ridiculous level of professionalism. Darnielle has written so many songs, but still can and will play just about any of them on request. I get the sense it's sort of a matter of pride. I once roadtripped from Norman, OK to Denton, TX (not only because I wanted to hear "The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton"), where John claimed out loud that the last truly rock'n'roll thing about these shows was spontaneity. Seeing the Mountain Goats has always seemed a nearly holy experience for both the band and the fans. I realize that's probably immensely burdensome for the musicians...but.
You can imagine how bummed I was that they weren't coming to Saint Paul on this most recent tour.
I wasn't dissuaded. I bought tickets to the Madison, Wisconsin show, even though it was more than 4 hours away on a week night. I rearranged my afternoon, jumped on I-94, and got to town just in time to see my nephew play flag football, eat dinner downtown, and get to the venue.
Oh Pep! opened. It's an Australian guitar-fiddle duo named after a kind of elision of both of their first names, Olivia and Pepita. The band have been together since high school but have just finally released their debut album, Stadium Cake. They were joined by two other musicians to round out their sound. I enjoyed their set fairly well, but am finding it difficult to recount that much about it. There were harmonies, and very pleasant mandolin parts.
The Mountain Goats added a new member to their live lineup this year, and it was my first time to see them as a four-piece. The extra player really helped round out the sounds on Beat the Champ, which includes a bunch of saxophone, among other things, so I was pretty pleased with the addition.
As usual, the band made an effort to cover their ridiculously extensive catalog, with an emphasis on the last couple of records. The songs are, in my mind, fairly divisible into two categories, depending on whether John is playing guitar or piano. The guitar songs are unquestionably higher energy and, in my opinion, more fun to hear live. John praised the crowd for being quiet and polite at more than one point in the set, though, and it was nice to be able to hear the quieter songs.
The main set ended with "Game Shows Rule Our Lives", which was definitely a highlight because you can't really beat anything off of Tallahassee. The first encore was pretty long, at 6 songs, and ended with "This Year". "Foreign Object", perhaps strangely, reminds me of my father (I'm not even the only one -- my brother feels this way too) and sounded great with the extra band member. I was fairly surprised that John came out for a second encore, even though I've seen him do that before.
Here's the setlist:
Supergenesis
Harlem Roulette
Damn These Vampires
Isaiah 45:23
You or Your Memory
Heel Turn 2
Steal Smoked Fish
Rotten Stinking Mouthpiece
Nine Black Poppies
Fire Editorial
Lakeside View Apartment Suite
Going Back to California (?)
Moon over Goldsboro
Cry for Judas
Song for Dennis Brown
Game Shows Rule Our Lives
--
Love, Love, Love
Pslams 40:2
Southwestern Territory
Foreign Object
Up the Wolves
This Year
--
Liza Forever Minelli
You can imagine how bummed I was that they weren't coming to Saint Paul on this most recent tour.
I wasn't dissuaded. I bought tickets to the Madison, Wisconsin show, even though it was more than 4 hours away on a week night. I rearranged my afternoon, jumped on I-94, and got to town just in time to see my nephew play flag football, eat dinner downtown, and get to the venue.
Oh Pep! opened. It's an Australian guitar-fiddle duo named after a kind of elision of both of their first names, Olivia and Pepita. The band have been together since high school but have just finally released their debut album, Stadium Cake. They were joined by two other musicians to round out their sound. I enjoyed their set fairly well, but am finding it difficult to recount that much about it. There were harmonies, and very pleasant mandolin parts.
The Mountain Goats added a new member to their live lineup this year, and it was my first time to see them as a four-piece. The extra player really helped round out the sounds on Beat the Champ, which includes a bunch of saxophone, among other things, so I was pretty pleased with the addition.
As usual, the band made an effort to cover their ridiculously extensive catalog, with an emphasis on the last couple of records. The songs are, in my mind, fairly divisible into two categories, depending on whether John is playing guitar or piano. The guitar songs are unquestionably higher energy and, in my opinion, more fun to hear live. John praised the crowd for being quiet and polite at more than one point in the set, though, and it was nice to be able to hear the quieter songs.
The main set ended with "Game Shows Rule Our Lives", which was definitely a highlight because you can't really beat anything off of Tallahassee. The first encore was pretty long, at 6 songs, and ended with "This Year". "Foreign Object", perhaps strangely, reminds me of my father (I'm not even the only one -- my brother feels this way too) and sounded great with the extra band member. I was fairly surprised that John came out for a second encore, even though I've seen him do that before.
Here's the setlist:
Supergenesis
Harlem Roulette
Damn These Vampires
Isaiah 45:23
You or Your Memory
Heel Turn 2
Steal Smoked Fish
Rotten Stinking Mouthpiece
Nine Black Poppies
Fire Editorial
Lakeside View Apartment Suite
Going Back to California (?)
Moon over Goldsboro
Cry for Judas
Song for Dennis Brown
Game Shows Rule Our Lives
--
Love, Love, Love
Pslams 40:2
Southwestern Territory
Foreign Object
Up the Wolves
This Year
--
Liza Forever Minelli
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