The Decemberists
Orlando Hard Rock Live
April 8th, 2007
I haven't made up my mind about last night's gig yet. I don't know if it's just little things that annoyed me about the environment or the band.
Things that were ace:
Sons and Daughters - with hurdy-gurdy and mass singing in the round. Fantastic.
Engine Driver - of course
Mariner's Revenge Song - now back to stay, with a ridiculous new prop.
Crane Wife 1 but not 2 - good choice
Bachelor and the Bride - just because
Colin's chatter - that one's a given
Jenny's balloon-animal-hat
Things that weren't ace:
-Opening with 'Oceanside', a song that maybe five people knew. Similarly, encoring with a Brian Eno cover. Polite hand-clapping and little else from the audience.
-'16 Military Wives' and 'Perfect Crime' lasting about ten minutes each because of extended singalong/dance contest respectively. Entertaining, sure, but I couldn't help but thinking "they could be playing something else now".
-Big venue - maybe I'm just spoilt from seeing them in small places before, but it rarely felt like the whole crowd was behind it.
-Heavy reliance on 'Crane Wife' - I guess that's to be expected. But I could really live happily without seeing 'Shankhill Butchers' or 'Perfect Crime' again. One song each off the first two records is a shame, though.
-There were only five of them - what happened to Lisa? Though it was nice to see Chris Funk playing violin at the end of 'You'll Not Feel the Drowning'.
Maybe it's just because the last couple of times I saw them they were tremendous, and since then they've put out a record that I only like half of. But I still like them more than these guys do.
Oceanside, July July!, The Bachelor and the Bride, The Engine Driver, The Island, The Crane Wife 1, Yankee Bayonet, 16 Military Wives, Shankhill Butchers, O Valencia, Perfect Crime, Sons and Daughters... I'll Come Running (To Tie Your Shoe), The Mariner's Revenge Song
Here's the song they opened with, in case you don't have it. And video of a song they didn't play.
[download The Decemberists - Oceanside]
I guess I'm something of a ne'er-do-well
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Our show wasn't too much better. They play Shiny instead of Oceanside, and five people knew it (me included). THey also play Legionnaire's Lament which happens to be one of my favorite songs. Myla Goldberg and the Infanta were played too. Shankill Butcher was 15 minutes too long, but Mariner's Revenge made everything better. A mediocre show in the T-town also.