Modest Mouse - Live

Posted in Music by Marcus on Apr 03, 02:34PM

Modest Mouse are a curious beast. They might be a bloated 6 member ensemble these days but 5 of them are passengers tonight. Frontman Isaac Brock (and to an extent, by mere virtue of his charismatic presence, Johnny Marr) is an enigmatic force; wide-eyed and vitriolic one moment, cool and collected the next. All the while his band watch their leader precariously for the next move, mood or direction.

They took a couple of songs to loosen up but by third track, 2005 B-Side 'King Rat', the band were in full flight. 'Tiny Cities Made Of Ashes' was an early highlight, followed by an extended jam that included Brock taking off his guitar and leaning down into the front rows in full ranting accusatory-preacher mode. This segued into a beautiful 'Here It Comes' from 2001's Everywhere And His Nasty Parlour Tricks.

The packed crowd seemed subdued through all this. Perhaps waiting for the hits. It's an unfortunate by-product of a band like Modest Mouse having had a long and illustrious career prior to breaking through to the mainstream. There's a sense of the hardcore portion of the crowd pining for classics from the first four un-toured albums, while the majority wait to hear the songs from the radio while getting hammered on booze. The band's distance and regimented translation of some of the newer material suggests they know this.

And yet the aforementioned 'King Rat' and 'Here It Comes' are the only changes in the set that was toured in 2006, the band once again featuring heavily on 2004's Good News For People Who Love Bad News and the weaker first half of their otherwise excellent recent album We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank. Why they don't delve deeper into their rich catalogue, even for their own amusement, is a mystery.

As such, older songs like 'Trailer Trash' and 'Paper Thin Walls' seem to be clear highlights for both band and crowd. After a looong wait for an encore during which all 4 (5? 6?) levels of The Palace thunder with applause and foot stomping, the band are led back out by the ever-cool Johnny Marr, who says sweetly, "Thanks for yelling", as if the band were truly going to call it quits after the main set. WIth Isaac's voice growing hoarse and the bizarre display he puts on next, perhaps he wasn't far wrong.

An incendiary version of 'Doin The Cockroach' follows, and near the end Brock's eyes glaze over. Suddenly he strides out forcefully across the barrier and over the PA as if to just walk across the heads of the audience. Instead he crashes heavily on top of several of them and on to the floor. Picking himself up he turns to face the stage, arms crossed like he's another disinterested audience member. He motions to clear the forest of hands and cameras from his line-of sight, as if to watch calmly for a minute. As if to try and see his own band.