Oceans Never Listen

Jan 7, 2007

The Mountain Goats @ Metro Theatre

Please count me now and forever as a Mountain Goats fan. I had owned "We All Shall Be Healed" for a while, but it wasn't something I played on a regular basis. Then in 2006 I caught up to the "The Sunset Tree" and it blew me away. Since then I have been busy catching up on their back catalogue, it's vast so I know it's a huge task. To see them live for the first time on Saturday night was an experience I will never forget. It felt like a revival meeting with John Darnielle communicating from the heart with an audience hanging on every word and Peter Hughes underpinning the performance with his superb bass playing. John Darnielle is a mesmeric performer, living every song like he was singing it for the first time, his enunciation of every lyric is superb, so much so that for most of the songs a rapturous crowd was singing along with every word. Their show was a mainly a combination of their last three records, with a few older classics thrown in for good measure. The highlights for me were stunning versions of "Up the Wolves", "Broom People", "New Year" and my personal favourite "Palmcorder Yajna". The second encore produced "No Children" which produced a huge singalong and I'm sure sent everyone home with huge smiles on their faces. I think M. Ward and the Mountain Goats are OUR folk music, their songs are modern yet timeless, incorporating classic song structures with modern themes. My first time seeing The Mountain Goats won't be the last.

Set List
Wild Sage
Quito
You Or Your Memory
Dance Music
Up The Wolves
Maybe Sprout Wings
Game Shows Touch Our Lives
In the Hidden Places
Broom People
Song For Dennis Brown
Get Lonely
New Monster Avenue (with John Vanderslice)
Half Dead (with John Vanderslice)
See America Right (with John Vanderslice)
This Year (with John Vanderslice)

Houseguest (Nothing Painted Blue cover)
The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton
Palmcorder Yajna

No Children (with John Vanderslice)
California Song

San Francisco based John Vanderslice provided excellent support. His records are hard to buy here, I only own his last one"Pixel Revolt", so I wasn't familiar with all his songs. But his acoustic set was well played and I think I will try to find more of his recordings. It was just a pity that some of the audience couldn't have the decency to be quiet during his set.

5 Comments:

At January 08, 2007 , Anonymous said...

Hey - thanks for posting the setlist (I got most of it but I got a bit lost in the middle when I tried to remember it on Sunday morning). It really was an amazing show - not just the music (because that was great) but I've never felt so much good will from a crowd toward a band. Your description of a revival meeting is spot on. It was easily one of my best musical experiences - finishing the night with California Song, one of my favourite Mountain Goats songs, completely made my night.
At January 08, 2007 , Pix said...

absolutely brilliant review!

your posting of the setlist tied up many loose ends in my head. im glad to see it wasnt just myself who felt completely captivated by the amazing talents of darnielle and hughes.

for me personally not be as familiar as urself with the entire back catalogue i still felt so blown away which like i said in my own post, made me feel all the more jealous of those who were mountain goat aficionados.

linked to ur post to ;)
At January 08, 2007 , Rob Woods said...

A really special night. Considering some of the artists that have been playing in Sydney over the last few months, I think it's relatively significant to say that this was the best and most memorable gig I've been to in some time. Something weirdly synergistic about the whole show.

Thanks very much for the setlist man.
At January 08, 2007 , Wayne Massingham said...

Thanks for the nice comments guys, it truly was a very special night. I forgot to add isn't John Darnielle not only an amazing singer, but quite possibly the nicest person on the planet.
At January 08, 2007 , Anonymous said...

Thanks so much for your nice comments RE: my post about the gig! And also thanks heaps for the link. People like me (i.e. disorganised) are forever grateful to people like yourself (i.e. organised) when it comes to things like set lists ;) I always tell myself I'll make a note but then I get all swept up. I was at that Modest Mouse gig at the Enmore too (actually, searching for THAT set list was how I found your blog) and was floored at that as well. You're right - 2007 has started out on a pretty amazing high when it comes to live music in Sydney.