November 8 2008: The Mountain Goats, Kaki King, Larkin Grimm - Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn NY
Rolled into New York in the early afternoon and spent the early afternoon taking it easy and reading and drinking coffee. Picked up a $6 half-pint of Jim Beam to ward off any temptation to buy multiple $9 drinks again, got a veggie burger and a salad and a beer at a Mugs on Bedford Ave, and made it to the Music Hall a few minutes after 8. Just in time to enjoy a couple $3 happy-hour-till-9pm Sierras. Which, if you're doing math and figuring in those 200ml of Beam like I wasn't, might start to make you nervous. You might be right to start to get nervous.
Got a great spot on the left side of the mezzanine, with a chair and a little table and a railing to lean on. The Music Hall seems way smaller when you're not on the floor, apparently.
The first act was competent but nothing to write home about. And Kaki King was better than she was the night before. But the Mountain Goats were fucking on. From what I could tell, anyway. Cause after Kaki King finished her set I poured my pint of Beam into my empty beer glass and started in. For some reason I was operating on the idea that 200ml of booze is two shots. I'm not sure why. But I'm here to tell you that it's definitely not. So the first half of the show is much more clear in my memory than the second. Opened with "Have to Explode" and "Heretic Pride" again, and it's not a bad way to start the show. "Pigs That Ran Straightaway Into the Water" was next. What a great fucking tune. I've always wondered why that one was never a staple of the live set. It works so well. Then "Moon Over Goldsboro," again amazing, into "Quito" which is always nice to hear, into "How To Embrace a Swamp Creature," which was great to hear again.
Then things started to get a bit fuzzy. John played "The Recognition Scene" and "Thank You Mario" solo, and the same tunes with Kaki as in Philly. It was great to have the view from the mezzanine for Kaki's lap steel part on "Supergenesis," which again kicked much ass. Probably the best song of the night, but a pretty convincing arguement could be made for "Moon Over Goldsboro" too.
After "Supergenesis" they did "Sept 15 1983," "No Children," "This Year." And that's when things got really really fuzzy. In fact, that's where I kind of passed out for minutes at a time on that rail I'd been leaning against. That's the sort of thing that happens when you drink 200ml of 80-proof liquor and then give it 45 minutes to really kick in. I recall the encore consisting of "The Mess Inside" and "Palmcorder Yajna." Appparently "Dance Music" and "Hast Thou Considered the Tetrapod" got played too. At least nothing happened that I hadn't seen happen before, but I'm sad I wasn't able to enjoy the show like I might have otherwise. But what can you. Oh, that's right: you can not drink a half-pint of cheap bourbon. That's exactly what you can do.
Got a great spot on the left side of the mezzanine, with a chair and a little table and a railing to lean on. The Music Hall seems way smaller when you're not on the floor, apparently.
The first act was competent but nothing to write home about. And Kaki King was better than she was the night before. But the Mountain Goats were fucking on. From what I could tell, anyway. Cause after Kaki King finished her set I poured my pint of Beam into my empty beer glass and started in. For some reason I was operating on the idea that 200ml of booze is two shots. I'm not sure why. But I'm here to tell you that it's definitely not. So the first half of the show is much more clear in my memory than the second. Opened with "Have to Explode" and "Heretic Pride" again, and it's not a bad way to start the show. "Pigs That Ran Straightaway Into the Water" was next. What a great fucking tune. I've always wondered why that one was never a staple of the live set. It works so well. Then "Moon Over Goldsboro," again amazing, into "Quito" which is always nice to hear, into "How To Embrace a Swamp Creature," which was great to hear again.
Then things started to get a bit fuzzy. John played "The Recognition Scene" and "Thank You Mario" solo, and the same tunes with Kaki as in Philly. It was great to have the view from the mezzanine for Kaki's lap steel part on "Supergenesis," which again kicked much ass. Probably the best song of the night, but a pretty convincing arguement could be made for "Moon Over Goldsboro" too.
After "Supergenesis" they did "Sept 15 1983," "No Children," "This Year." And that's when things got really really fuzzy. In fact, that's where I kind of passed out for minutes at a time on that rail I'd been leaning against. That's the sort of thing that happens when you drink 200ml of 80-proof liquor and then give it 45 minutes to really kick in. I recall the encore consisting of "The Mess Inside" and "Palmcorder Yajna." Appparently "Dance Music" and "Hast Thou Considered the Tetrapod" got played too. At least nothing happened that I hadn't seen happen before, but I'm sad I wasn't able to enjoy the show like I might have otherwise. But what can you. Oh, that's right: you can not drink a half-pint of cheap bourbon. That's exactly what you can do.
posted by Peter Sohriakoff | 4:24 PM
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