September 30 2006: The Mountain Goats, Christine Fellows, Jeffery Lewis Band – Bowery Ballroom, New York NY

It probably says something about a person’s tendency to leave town at the slightest provocation when this (not so) fictional person comes upon the day that he/she sees his/her favorite rock and roll band for the thirtieth time and takes note that this thirtieth show happens to be the very first time this person has seen this band play the same room twice. Which is exactly the situation I found myself in tonight. Interpret as you see fit.

But it was a very nice show. Not as nice as last night, but then not many shows are as nice as last night’s. This was close though. “Wild Sage” was opened with, and performed probably just as well as I feel it was performed in Ithaca, which I consider the high water mark for the tune. And after finishing it up, out of nowhere John announces, “This is called ‘Design Your Own Container Garden.’” Out of nowhere! Second song into the set! And life was good. Never thought I’d hear that one live, ever.

And those two were followed by some pretty nice renditions of “Baboon” and “Broom People,” and then later on another “Dilaudid” with just John and Friedlander again (though not as exciting/mind-blowing if only because it didn’t just come right out of thin air like it did last night – but it was still great to see. I mean, it’s not every day that you see a guy shredding the hell out of a cello while another guy’s just going ballistic into the microphone).

Franklin was there again, and they did “Half Dead” with him imitating the guitar part on the keyboard, which was nice. And “In the Hidden Places,” “Up the Wolves” and “Lion’s Teeth” were all played with both Franklin and Friedlander, and all three pretty much kicked the collective ass of every previous time I’ve ever seen them played (Except “Lion’s Teeth,” which I preferred better at a Chicago show last year). I mean, imagine Friedlander just going nuts and Franklin pounding out this crazy psychedelic organ sound. Not many times you’ll catch me using this phrase, but this is one such time: Fucking A. Fucking A those three songs were a great way to end a set. And then “The Best Ever Death Metal Band from Denton” kicked off the first encore. Rock and/or Roll.

The opener, a guy named Jeff Lewis and his brother and another guy, were pretty ok, by which I mean whenever the Jeff guy sang a song things were pretty mediocre but then when his brother would sing a song things were pretty fucking awesome. But the brother only sang a couple tunes.

And Christine Fellows played with a drummer and a cello player, which really upped her live show. And on a side note, I saw Christine walk by as I was sitting in a Soho doorway before the show at around 8pm, 200ml size receptacle of Clan MacGregor in paper bag in hand, but I wasn’t entirely sure it was her until she was already past, and I wish I had just gone out on a limb and said hi and told her that I really enjoy her tunes and then just left it at that, because I don’t suppose it’s every day that a small-time songwriter from Winnipeg goes walking through the streets of New York only to have an apparently homeless young man raise his brown bag to her and call her by name. She could have told her kids about that one. Oh well.

September 29 2006: The Long Winters - Bowery Ballroom, New York NY

There are times in a person's life when a horrible decision must be made. Say, for example, a criminal has broken into your home and is waving a gun around and is pretty dead set on killing someone you care about and is forcing you to decide whether that someone will be your best friend or your mother. You know what I'm saying? There are just certain decisions that a person must make when it's pretty much lose-lose either way. But then sometimes the criminal accidentally drops the gun into a sewer grate and you and your best friend and mother are able to kick the living shit out of this person and the tables have turned and life is good again.

I was recently faced with a situation such as the one described about. The Long Winters were playing in New York, and I was understandably excited. But then the Mountain Goats booked a gig on the very same night, and I was inconsolable. Because how on earth can a mortal be expected to choose between the two greatest bands in the known universe? Can such a decision even be made, or will the sheer magnitude of firing synapses cause the brain burdened with such a task to just melt? But then I looked a little closer at various internet pages and realized that the Mountain Goats show was an early show, scheduled to conclude no later than 1030pm, that the Long Winters were not scheduled to not hit the stage until 11, and that the distance between the two venues is easily negotiated in a timely manner for a $20 cab fare. So instead of living my life knowing that I chose not to see the Long Winters (because I really don't think I could have skipped a Mountain Goats show...), I was able to turn some seriously bitter lemons into the tastiest lemonade ever. Beautiful.

So I got in a cab and we sped across the Williamsburg Bridge to the Bowery Ballroom and I ran upstairs just as "Hindsight" was finishing up (unfortunately the Mountain Goats ran a little long, but all in all I'm not complaining). But I don't think I missed a whole lot of the show, because I caught a good hour of set. And it was fun to hear the new songs live, and it was fun to hear "Cinnamon" and "Medicine Cabinet Pirate" and "Scared Straight" and "The Commander Thinks Aloud" and other such songs again, and it was very fun to see "Ultimatum" performed by the full band in the acoustic style (as opposed to just John playing it solo, or the full band playing it all rock and roll like, previously the only ways I've seen it played). And John's growing a beard again, and I bought me a new t-shirt, and pretty much enjoyed that feeling which comes when the universe is working out just right and (coincidentally I'm sure) a very respectable amount of whiskey has been recently consumed.

September 29 2006: The Mountain Goats - Club Europa, Brooklyn NY

So all those complaints I made regarding the crowd in Boston? The Brooklyn crowd, despite being packed into an awful dance club space, was just about as opposite as things get. They listened politely, shut up during the middle of slow songs, didn't sing along any more than one can realistically expect from a mass of people, and cheered loudly at each song's conclusion.

In fact, the show was one of the best Mountain Goats shows I've ever seen. To start off with, they opened with "Get Lonely," which was a nice change of pace from the other shows I've seen recently, and they did a few songs that were ruined in Cambridge ("Love, Love, Love" and "Color in Your Cheeks"), and a few songs I hadn't heard on this tour thusfar ("Grendel's Mother" for one). And then Franklin Bruno comes on stage! I don't know if he was just in town or if he flew out just to play some music or what, but either way his piano contributed directly to probably the best live performance of "You or Your Memory" I've ever seen, and it made all the more sweet seeing "Song for Lonely Giants" for the first time

And then Eric Friedlander comes on stage, something that those on stage claim has never happened before, and "Dilaudid" is performed with just cello and vocals! And then there is some very nicely performed accompaniment to "Cobra Tattoo" (never seen played before) and "Moon Over Goldsboro" and "In the Hidden Places," all courtesy of Mr. Friedlander. Motherfucker!

And a new tune was played! And "New Year" opened then encore! And Franklin played guitar for "Houseguest" to close the encore! And much good reason for excessive exclamation point usage was provided throughout the night!

September 28 2006: Aimee Mann, David Ford – Calvin Theatre, Northampton MA

I hadn’t seen Aimee Mann play in almost four years, and I really enjoy her music on a much higher level than I did in 2002 – I’ve come to realize that “Lost in Space” is an absolutely brilliant album, to cite the most obvious example of this new appreciation, so I’m pretty glad I was able to see her play again.

And she opened, solo acoustic, with “High on Sunday 51,” my very favorite song from that record. And then right into “Goodbye Caroline,” one of my favorites from the new album, with some really nice pedal steel going on in the background.

Most of the show was Aimee on guitar and a guy on bass and a guy on baby grand/keyboard/pedal steel, and the arrangements were just great. And I forgot that she covers “One,” so when she said, “I’m gonna play something from the ‘Magnolia’ soundtrack, but it’s something I didn’t write,” I about shat myself in fear that she was going to do a Supertramp tune. Because I spend a good percentage of every day avoiding Supertramp tunes. But things were ok. And I really enjoy her “One,” and couldn’t help thinking through it that the last time I heard the song was in Washington DC, while crashing a hotel party that had Three Dog Night playing live.

Highlights were probably “Deathly” and "Wise Up" and “Invisible Ink” (especially “Invisible Ink”). And though I’d have really liked to have heard “I Was Thinking I Could Clean Up for Christmas” or “The Moth” or “It’s Not,” it was a perfectly pleasant show in a very nice building and was over at a reasonable hour, so I don’t figure I have any room to complain.

And the opener, an English guy named David Ford, gets automatic points for saying, “This song here's called ‘Cheer Up You Miserable Fuck,’” and then going on to sing an actual song that he actually wrote that he actually titled “Cheer Up You Miserable Fuck.”

September 26 2006: The Mountain Goats, Christine Fellows – Middle East Downstairs, Cambridge MA

I think I was too tired and too coming off a beer buzz (cause I had to drive 2 hours home afterwards) to really appreciate this show on its level, but I’m here to maintain that the level of this show was that of a drunken audience screaming and singing at a band who had no choice but to play along. And drunken singalongs aren’t why I go to Mountain Goats shows.

As far as I’m concerned, the thing that separates the Mountain Goats from the rest of the bands playing today is the subtlety they show in vocal inflection and in the guitar/bass interplay, multiplied by the contrast of decidedly loud, medium and quiet songs, all of which are lost to some degree when the audience feels like making more noise than the band is making. The best Mountain Goats shows I’ve been too have all been crazy affairs in which the audience screams like hell after (and sometimes during) the loud songs (“Death Metal Band,” “Going to Georgia,” See America Right,” etc), but then immediately shuts the fuck up during the medium and quiet songs. And the thing about the crowd tonight was that it really had no desire whatsoever to quiet down for songs that, in my opinion, become utterly sublime only when the musicians on stage have a little sonic legroom. And I’m speaking here of tunes like “Love, Love, Love,” which wasn’t performed as a flowing piece of music so much as it was a soft-loud-soft-loud tune. I mean, it may as well have been “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” because all these folks making noise meant that the little bass flourishes Peter takes to counter the guitar melody in between verses had to be augmented by John hitting his guitar as loud as possible, just so that the music could carry over the noisy audience. And the folks in the crowd ate it up and screamed along and had a great time, but I just kind of missed the subtle little bass part and the sound of John’s voice sounding naked against some minimalist guitar strumming. .

And the band really did seem to be enjoying all the energy going on in the crowd, what with the screaming at every little thing and the ecstatic singing (though thankfully, whether by sheer luck or just by folks just not knowing the words I’m not sure, “It Froze Me” and “Twin Human Highway Flares” were met with silence throughout), but (and like I say, it could well have been my just being kind of tired and sober) I just couldn’t get past the dude screaming the words to “Color in Your Cheeks” and “Song for Dennis Brown” in my ear enough to appreciate the tunes like I’d have liked to.

But it really was a good show. I guess I’m just a little picky when it comes to these things. But I really do think the crowd was more into the concept of John making funny faces and ranting into the microphone than it was into the songwriting being demonstrated onstage.

September 24 2006: The Mountain Goats, Christine Fellows – Pearl Street Clubroom, Northampton MA

Pearl Street Clubroom, I think you are my new least-favorite place to see music. But not even your complete lack of charisma and utter absence of soul could spoil a Mountain Goats show. Not even the industrial fans you had blowing at decibel levels quite often higher than those of the pleasant slow songs being performed on stage could detract from the best live band in the world.

But it strikes me now that in my description of last night I failed to mention how much I enjoy Christine Fellows’ songs. Which I do enjoy, and have been enjoying ever since I bought her newest record off ebay from some guy in Toronto for $1.75. Worth every penny, for sure. But I bring this up now because tonight during Christine’s set, during the last song in fact (“Migrations”), some guy makes his way to the front of the stage and proceeds to mouth the words along and kind of generally appear as if his very life ebbs and flows according to the song being sung. And this man is John Darnielle. And the beautiful thing about a Mountain Goats show is that the guy who’s just sold the place out can make his way to the front of the stage for the opener and nobody knows who the hell just pushed past them.

And, oh, Mountain Goats. I live about a half-mile from the Pearl Street, and this was my twenty-seventh time seeing them play, and yet I was practically walking on air the whole way there. There’s really nothing in this world like knowing the Mountain Goats are gonna go on stage in the very near future.

And they played ”In the Hidden Places” and “If You See Light,” both from the new record and both of which I hadn’t heard before, and they did “There Will Be No Divorce” and “Baboon” again, and “Lion’s Teeth” (oh how I love that song) and “Alpha Double Negative” and “Game Shows Touch Our Lives” (definitely the highlight of the show) and “Going to Georgia,” and I just kind of enjoyed the hell out of myself.

It’s gonna be a long, long 45 hours (and counting) waiting for Boston.

September 23 2006: The Mountain Goats, Christine Fellows – Becker House Dining Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca NY

So I had me a Saturday devoid of real responsibility and a small flask of bourbon and the knowledge of a Mountain Goats show 250 miles away. Which adds up to a nice long drive and some real good times.

To begin with, Cornell is one of the best-looking schools I’ve ever seen. Amazing. But I guess their relatively large student population dictates that they can’t just hire a band to play some random space and give out free beer and not worry too much about trivialities (ie: fire codes). So it was more of a “real” show than a “college” show, in that it cost money and many in attendance were sober. But that was ok with me.

Because the set was opened with “Wild Sage,” which is one hell of an opener.

And because the set went on to include such songs as “There Will Be No Divorce,” “Baboon,” “Jeff Davis County Blues,” “Source Decay,” “No Children,” “Slow West Vultures,” “Quito,” “You or Your Memory,” “Broom People,” “New Year,” “Half Dead,” Woke Up New,” “Get Lonely” and “Maybe Sprout Wings.” Christ almighty. “Jeff Davis County Blues” once held the highly-contested title of Favorite Mountain Goats Song, and remains to this day probably in the top ten, and I’d never seen it played before. I’d also never seen “There Will Be No Divorce,” and hadn’t seen “Quito” since a certain going-down-in-history type evening in New Orleans last year.

And then, as they come out for an encore, John and Peter seem to be squinting and pointing in my general direction and I get the feeling that they’re debating whether or not I’m me (as John has never seen me sans beard, and Peter only once). So I wave, and they smile and wave back, and then proceed to extol my virtues to the crowd for a few minutes. And then go into “Shadow Song,” followed by “In Corolla,” followed by Nothing Painted Blue’s “Houseguest” with Peter on bass and John on words alone.

Fucking fantastic.

And after the show I really didn’t have anything to do so I followed the throbbing dance music to a frat party and got halfway through a warm 16oz can of Keystone Light before determining that having nothing to do in absolutely no way at all justifies going to a frat party.

September 14 2006: Mates of State, the Starlight Mints – Pearl Street Clubroom, Northampton MA

Went with Ben to see some rock and roll. We concluded that it wasn’t the greatest rock and roll we’d ever seen, but that it was both competent and a reasonable way to spend a thursday evening. And I got in free, so no complaints.

The Starlight Mints were pretty good, but they didn’t play for long and they didn’t play the first song off their first record, and it was so dark I could hardly see them. And they’re definitely a group I associate with light.

And Mates of State apparently have a huge following. I never would have guessed. But the place was packed. They played well, “Fraud in the 80’s” probably being the highlight. And they covered Bowie’s “Starman” and Nico’s “These Days” back to back, which was interesting.

So yeah, reasonable way to spend a thursday evening.

September 8 2006: Fancy Trash, Spouse, the Basement Band – The Elevens, Northampton MA

Went down the street to watch Housemate Ben’s record release show and get reacquainted with an old friend I call Two Dollar PBR.

The Basement Band played first, and were pretty good, though every time I thought they had a pretty good tune going the singer would say, “Thanks! That was a cover tune.” Oh well.

And then Spouse played and they were really great and I was dancing along and then noticed that their bass player used to play with Pedro the Lion. His Sonic Boom Records t-shirt gave him away. I talked to him after the show and I guess he lives in Easthampton now.

And then Fancy Trash played and everybody danced and Housemate John yelled at them and good times were had. And the bassist’s mom brought a big plate with crackers and cheese and another big plate with chips and bean dip and a big cake and stuff like that. And on top of the cake were these little made-in-Taiwan instruments, intended to represent the band. Like the wedding couple on a wedding cake, but for a rock band. So we stole most of mini gear and then went to the diner in Easthampton and pretended to be a mini made-in-Taiwan rock band while we waited for the food. And then Ben made us give them back.