Saw Modest Mouse in Concert Twice

It’s like an Onion article: the headline is the whole story.

Saw them in June in Salt Lake with my Aunt Mitzie, then again in September in Boise with myself. Salt Lake had a better play list, but I liked the Boise venue better. Now what?

• I like that they don’t ever play the same set list twice and that, at both concerts, there were heavy doses of songs from older albums (more from Moon and Antarctica in SLC, more from Lonesome, Crowded West in Boise).
• Set list overlap between the two concerts was probably 50-60%.
• It was interesting the extent to which they just sounded like a loud, angry rock band, especially on songs that don’t sound all that loud or angry on the albums (e.g., Tiny Cities Made of Ashes, Tortoise and the Tourist).
• Favorite performed song was Dark Center of the Universe (in SLC). Very loud, very angry.
• Particularly from their later albums, the “un-produced” sound of the live performances were in many cases way better than what ended up on the albums (e.g., Satin in a Coffin, Sugar Boats, Devil’s Workday, Invisible).
• OTOH, some of my favorites that they played came across kind of lame live (Trailer Trash, Out of Gas).
• The SLC was some sort of converted warehouse; in Boise, they played at the single-A baseball team’s stadium (was cold).
• Far more concertgoers in SLC spent the entire concert taking photos/video with their phones than in Boise.
• I was about the median age at both concerts.

Here’s a photo, after which this life event will be considered recorded.

bkd