June 17 2007: The Mountain Goats - Farm Sanctuary People Barn, Watkins Glen NY

Woke up after maybe four hours of sleep to a new and equally as beautiful if slightly warmer day. Got some breakfast in Watkins Glen and took a quick swim in the lake before realizing that the lake is freezing and pretty dirty too. So most of the afternoon was spent cultivating sunburn while reading and looking at the animals and the people. Cause apparently even the most jaded hipsters want to join the older hippie faction to play volleyball and throw frisbees and break out the devil sticks and participate in javelin throwing competitions when you get them camping on a farm. Imagine dudes in tight black tshirts and tighter jeans and blacker aviator sunglasses doing all of the above. Now imagine them doing it in the 90-degree sun. Nobody was too cool, despite how they were dressed. It made for damn good people watching.

And before the sun went down, John played another set. This one had him seated barefoot on a bale of hay, playing songs that folks had requested in exchange for donations to the farm. It didn’t have the continuity or energy of the previous night, but it was probably the most laid-back Mountain Goats show I’ve ever seen, owing I think to the fact that everyone was just more comfortable with seeing John doing things like eating a snack or drinking a beer or shooting the shit with his friends. Example: before the show on the first night I was talking with Peter at a picnic table when John walked by and sat down to say hello. Suddenly four or five people make a beeline to the table and start asking John all sorts of Mountain Goats-related questions and kind of make asses of themselves. But by the second day, people seemed to get over that sort of stuff. John was now just that guy who you nodded hello to on your way to the bathroom. So in a way, he never seemed like more of a folk singer to me than he did on the second night, just because everyone was sitting around and treating the show the way that folk music people treat folk musicians: with respect, but without any delusions about the musician being anything more than just a dude. And I imagine that people treating John as just a dude allowed him to treat the people as just dudes too, as opposed to fans that he needs to please in order to put food on the table.

So the show was laid back, and John talked a lot in between the songs, and it was great. He opened with Jenny, and he didn’t change the lyrics to “two things in the galaxy” like he usually does, which made my night right there. And he did “Minnesota” in maybe the purest and cleanest voice I’ve ever heard come out of him and he did “Cobscook Bay” and he did “Going to Scotland” and he did “The Alphonse Mambo” and “Chanson du Bon Chose” and “Cao Dai Blowout” and “Weekend in Western Illinois” and “Insurance Fraud” and “Leaving Home.” And in my opinion the highlight of the set proper was my own request, “Distant Stations.” Wow do I love that song, and wow was it maybe the best $10 I ever donated to a good cause to hear it played.

And as the people demanded a second encore, John gave his guitar to Peter and they did “California Song,” which has always been one of my favorites, and is a song I’ve seen them play countless times, but one that I hadn’t seen in almost two years and the mood was perfect. Everyone stood up and Peter played on the floor while John stood on his hay bale and sang. “I got joy joy joy in my soul tonight I got joy joy joy in my arms alright.” That line summed shit up pretty well for me and I think it did the same for the rest of the people there. It was beautiful. It was the perfect way to end things.

And of course the show had to end but I shot the shit with new friends at the bonfire and was able to give Perry a good ribbing for having keyboards in his band and the stars were as bright as I’ve seen them since coming to New England and the fireflies were out and I put on the UMass sweatshirt to represent and life was good.