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.
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.
posted by Peter Sohriakoff | 4:40 PM
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