The Dead Part of You

Lord, is this the year that Issac Brock went sane? There were a few reports early in the year, but everytime I saw him [May, August] the shows went off without a hitch. They were good shows, too. I skipped their Lollapalooza set in favor of TV on the Radio and I think that was a pretty good trade.

The Lonesome Crowded West is my favorite Modest Mouse record. Cowboy Dan, Styrofoam Boots, and I think my all time favorite, well for this week at least, Out of Gas.

Out of gas
Out of road
Out of car
I don't know how I'm going to go and

I did not run out of gas in yesterdays northeast gridlock, I read the news, I got lucky.

Taking a break from writing about Lollapalooza, last Saturday Rob and I went down to the Tweeter Center for the big indie rock show. It was the Download festival, but we were only going to see Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Modest Mouse.

I assumed that YYYs would be going on around 7, and when I assume I make an ASS out of U and ME, because as it turns out, they were scheduled to play at 6:15, which worked out perfect because we go there at 6 because there was no traffic, and the parking lot didn't seem full at all, and the venue didn't seem full at all either.

I bought the tickets last week using my new "I'll wait until press tickets have been released" system, which worked out pretty amazing because we were in the 6th row on the right and pretty much had the whole area to ourselves. As it turns out, ticket sales were so shitty apparently they were actually giving the tickets away last week.

This was my third time seeing YYYs, and while I'm no fan at all of their last record, they usually put on a pretty kick ass performance. But not last Saturday. They seemed really bored/out of it for almost the whole time. Things only picked up for the last two songs [the second to last was an aborted "Maps" that was then played acoustic instead - which was actually as amazing as it sounds]. "Maps" was the only track played from the first record. Also, we were sitting in back of the one girl in the pavilion who was in love with them. A disturbing YYYs trend I've noticed is that they are picking up a fan base along the lines of "those girls". The ones who get all weird about Tori Amos, and you just know are cutters. We wound up moving seats - she was that weird.

Also, there was this awesome hipster and his girlfriend wearing the shortest hot pants ever that showed up for a few songs. You could see the butt!

What is Guster? Rob asked. Shitty alternative rock, I answered. We went in search of food during their set and I'd forgotten just how scary pavilion food is. We watched people filming Dating on Demand personals. Pretty much anything would have been more interesting than Guster.

Once Guster were done, we went back in to "kick the squatters out of our seats", but I am telling you it was still just an empty press section, actually. When MM came on the only person that stood up in all the rows in front was directly in front of me, but that's OK because I was going to stand up anyway.

The first half of their set was very good - very 'pavilion' friendly, "Out of Gas" was an amazing addition to the set I hadn't expected. After "Satin in a Coffin" Isaac addressed us all, it was kind of rambly but cute. Until.

With the house lights up he noticed that everyone was standing all organized, and proceeded to invite everyone down front because there was plenty of room there. He said it would be OK because they have insurance here anyway. The crowd almost held back, and I think they would have if they hadn't suddenly launched into their radio hit "Float On", which sent, well, pretty much everyone rushing forward. It was like watching bees or ants, so I watched security give a half hearted try and pushing people back, and then just resign themselves to pushing people out of the aisles. Somehow, my row remained relatively calm as most people were rushing for the coveted GA pit up front.

ALSO, remember the hipster I saw during YYYs with the girl who's ass was hanging out? It was about this time that he looked really familiar to me. I tried to match the face up, but internet message boards this AM confirms that said hipster that I secretly laughed at was actually ISAAC BROCK and his FIANCEE. KIDS! DO NOT LAUGH AT HIPSTERS, YOU MAY REALLY WANT TO STICK YOUR TONGUE DOWN THEIR THROAT!



The only other show highlight was set closer "Spitting Venom" with a bit of "I Came As A Rat" thrown in. I was pretty disappointed at the lack of "Tiny Cities Made Of Ashes", but there was no way I was staying for the encore and sitting in traffic for 90 minutes trying to get out of the parking lot. But psyche - it didn't show up in the encore either, so I missed nothing.

Overall, it turned out to be an A++ evening at the Tweeter Center! Well, maybe more like B-. However we still cannot figure out what exactly the "Download" festival is, other than there was a lot of money spent on advertising telling me that I was at DOWNLOAD 2007!!!!!

So last week, before I got sick, was the big noise pop show at the Orpheum. Modest Mouse, Man Man and Love as Laughter. I didn't bother to take pictures because I was in row N of the orchestra and knew that they wouldn't come out from back there.

A few weeks ago I was starting to try and figure out what makes some indie rock bands better than others. Love as Laughter were fine musicians, but were missing that something that would make them above average. I just kind of sat there.

Man Man, however. My God. If you are a band of six men dressed in white, banging on anything available for 40 minutes, chant-singing, running around - well, you only are one of the best bands ever. It was actually slightly reminiscent of another "man group", only without the theatrics. I'm not sure about running out and buying their records [I can't imagine it's the same at home alone], but would I go see them again? THE ANSWER IS YES. AND I WOULD ALSO HIRE THEM TO PLAY MY WEDDING!

Modest Mouse. This is how I define what makes some indie rock bands better than others: Would I suck the DNA out of the lead singer?



So I wasn't a total fangurl, mostly because at row N, it's a little tough to get worked up about a boy. There was dancing and singing along a plenty through the first 2/3 of the set. Johnny Marr was there too, and looked like he was having fun. Also, he looked really old. He got to take some of the between-song banter while Isaac smoked. I think that was my only complaint: it was song - everybody move around, change instruments, tune things, towel off, drink, smoke, say hi to the audience - then play another song.

Once they hit "Tiny Cities Made of Ashes" all of that changed. That shit was scorching. That must have been 15 minutes of awesomeness - after the song proper, including top-of-lungs sing-a-long we then got the jamming, the incoherent ranting, only to have it start right up again with "Doin' the Cockroach". This was the moment I had been waiting for, this was the bliss.

Half the encore ["Bury Me With It"] was amazing, but it didn't really matter by then as I was pretty spent. I was hoping for "Out of Gas" or "Cowboy Dan", but they're not playing them this tour. Still, it was most of what I hoped it would be, once things got moving. Will I go see Modest Mouse at Lollapalooza this year? THE ANSWER IS THEIR SET SHOULD JUST BE A 45 MINUTE TINY CITIES.

The Chris Hansen soundboard is exactly how I feel today.

I've had a weird-ass headache for 2 days now - it feels like a fucked up contact lens, but I'm not even wearing them today. I'm wicked-get-out tired - instead of lunch I took a nap in my car. The Carpenters have come up on the iPod - I say "Goodbye to Love" indeed. Tonight is Modest Mouse, and I'm so not feeling it right now. I know about 5 minutes before they go on I'll be in full on AI crying girl mode, but right now I just want to sleep for days.

Actually, the MM set lists look white hot - can I tell you a secret? I've barely listened to the new record once. They're not especially concentrating on new material this time around, so Issac Brock can still be my Sanjaya.