Saw me some modest mouse last night.

[Futureman]

I was amazed at the turn out. Indie music junkies, teeny-bopers, frat daddies, emo kids, goths, punks, and *lots* of college girls in halter tops. Mostly 18-20ish. I felt out of place. Anyway, I had no idea MM has such a wide appeal.

The concert was very good, but not spectacular. Isaac Brock was waaaay chatty. Annoying. But the music was great and they played a handful of tunes from the new album. A couple of those songs were fabulous.

Again, good show. But they couldn't hold a candle to the Wilco/Sonic Youth concert.

[tinobeat]

how was the new drummer?

[GTurner]

was the show worth going to if a two and a half hour drive was involved?

[ChickenTenders]

i saw them here in chicago on Tuesday night.
the new drummer is really good and fits in well with the band.
they played an excellent set, in my opinion.
three or four new songs, which were very good. can't wait to hear the new album. four song encore.
isaac seemed to be in good spirits. he announced that they were called ShitStorm and it was their first show.
he did do a lot of chatting, but i didn't find it annoying at all. quite the contrary, i thought it broke the ice and made it seem more intimate. i like when performers talk between songs, it helps break down the barrier between band and audience.
he mentioned that because of the new drummer, they are kind of limited to what songs they know together and can choose from. so if you see them on this mini tour, expect to hear songs that you would expect to hear(trailer trash,interstate 8,3rd planet,paper thin walls,etc).
of course, also expect to hear some of the new ones.
i think it is worth a two and a half hour drive.
it beats sitting at home.

[GTurner]

yeah, but i did play a lot of ncaa 2004.

[Futureman]

how was the new drummer?

I respectfully disagree with CT. He was OKish. I'm a drummer myself and tend to be critical. Yes, he seemed to fit into the band quite well, but was not *nearly* as groovy as the erstwhile Jeremiah Green.

was the show worth going to if a two and a half hour drive was involved?

depends. if you love modest mouse and like going to concerts, then go. I love MM but don't like overly crowded, sweaty venues. Then again, I'm 36 and have less patience than I used to for this stuff. So I would drive 1 hour, but probably not 2.

[jt. r]

i've been amazed by the dedication of fans roadtripping for shows, especially among midwesterners. 1.5 hours represents the longest i've ever travelled (counting traffic time) to see shows since i grew up in an outlying rural area near philadelphia. now the longest i'll walk to a show is 20 minutes. and i'll do just that tonite to see canned hamm and neeeiiiiillll haaaaaaambuurrrggeerrr!

[Squall91]

I saw them in May right after they got their new drummer...I agree with the whole "many kinds of people" there comment...they put on an amazing show too.

[vesper]

Just caught them last night and thought they put on a good show. I could've done without Radar Bros.: they are one of the most boring bands I've ever seen, for god's sake.

Anyway, they opened up with a new song which was just a little fantastic. I've never heard Isaac Brock sound so much like Frank Black (as far as hissy/slithery singing to wails goes - I'm thinking "Tame" here). They also played some older favorites - like "Trailer Trash", "Bankrupt on Selling" and "Interstate 8" - amidst the shittiest track on M&A - "Wild Pack of Family Dogs". It bugged me that not a single song was played from Long Drive; I mean, c'mon, I thought "Dramamine" was at least a staple for every show (though I really wanted to hear "Mechanical Birds")? But this spec-fucking-tacular, closing (before the encore anyway) extended jam of "Cowboy Dan" made up for most of the missing Long Drive material: it was an achingly intense stretch.

Brock had a lot of crowd interaction, but most of it was just banter about absolutely nothing. In fact, he was pretty much a jackass the entire show, but those new songs sounded really solid. The last song (encore) was a pretty great, upbeat tune that I haven't heard come out of them. It was welcome to say the least (edit: "Paper Thin Walls" upbeat-style excluded. This was an entirely different beast).

So, I'm still a Modest Mouse fan - I just hope the new album keeps it that way.

-edit to add-

The new drummer was pretty solid too. He definitely qualifies for the backbone that Modest Mouse had with Jeremiah Green.

[Futureman]

Oh, Jeez. The Radar Bros. were a droning bore.

Re: MM. The new songs are indeed solid. The opening tune and the very last could be some of MM's best stuff yet. We'll wait and see. Still think the new drummer was mediocre...

Question for you MM fans:

What accounts for their huge popularity? I saw them in Cleveland; not the biggest alternative music scene. Still, it was the biggest crowd I've seen at the venue at which they played. Certaintly seemed to be more well known than other bands I've seen there.

[vesper]

Probably just because they are one of the more prominent and accessible of "indie" (I know that is a bloated term, I hardly count them as independent - what with their Sony deal and all) bands. Besides, they have a great back catalogue that warrants a lot of revisits. That's about the sum of it, I suppose.

[Phairness]

I've been a long time Modest Mouse supporter. I have to agree that the fan base is not what you would expect. When I first saw them about 3 years ago there was a huge hippie element and some ravers there. I also remember that this guy I worked with in college was a huge Phish fan and loved Modest Mouse, which suprised me. I think they definitely have some druggie appeal. (Although, I for one enjoy them fine without taking drugs).

I saw them at that horrible Siren Coney Island thing last weekend. The acoustics at that show were some of the worst. There was a loud roller coaster to one side of the stage and some loud ride compressor thing to the other side. You could barely hear the vocals even from halfway up in the crowd, which was quite large. I guess you shouldn't expect much from a FREE show though. To be honest, I was kinda disappointed with the extended Cowboy Dan jam selection because their timeslot was limited and they could have easily fit in 2 or 3 short songs in that time. The other songs sounded pretty good from my limited earshot.

Also - Ted Leo was totally great that day.