November 11 2007: The Mountain Goats, the Bowerbirds - Randy Bacon Gallery, Springfield MO

I told Peter before the show: "You know, I thought I knew the shittiest Springfield around. I was wrong."

So yeah. Not the prettiest town in the world. Which made the Randy Bacon's light shine that much brighter. The place is a gallery by day, music venue by night. And there were seats! There were little tables with candles! There was red wine, gratis! Read: classy place with free booze and chairs to sit in and tables on which to place empty glasses. As far a cry from a soulless burrito-spewing food court as you could hope.

They opened with "Wild Sage" and "Tetrapod" again, did "How to Embrace a Swamp Creature," did "Alibi," did both "Orange Ball of Love" and "Orange Ball of Hate." "Slow West Vultures" was fun to hear again, especially with drums. "Maybe Sprout Wings" was great again. "In the Craters on the Moon" as well. Shit, the whole thing was great.

Especially great: "See America Right," with jangly electric guitar and drums.

Especially great: "Palmcorder Yajna," with jangly electric guitar and drums.

Unfortunate casualty of the drums: "Twin Human Highway Flares." The subtle shifts in the feel of it got lost with the steady beat. Which was a real shame, cause this is one of my all-time favorite Mountain Goats tunes.

And did I mention that there were seats?!!?? And that the crowd was polite enough to sit in them and not sing or yell or engage in other such activities?? Such bliss is hard to describe fully with mere words.

And it rained that night, but I was OK cause there's construction going on at MSU and I found a nice little place to sleep at a loading dock that wasn't yet completed but had a roof.