In case you haven’t heard the breaking news, I am a huge fan of the Mountain Goats. I’ve been obsessed with them since I was 18, and have an old iPod classic filled with every single album, EP, cassette tape and random show recording I can get my hands on that’s gotten me through some of my darkest moments in life. So, when I got the news that they were playing at Thalia Hall on my birthday in support of their latest album In League With Dragons, AND the next day as well, I knew I had to be at both, one day to get lit and dance (as one does on their birthday) and one day to be a professional photographer-writer-human and record my experiences. You know, for science. Since this would be my 10th and 11th time seeing John Darnielle live, I thought I knew what to expect but both nights were unpredictable, awesome and totally exceeded my expectations.
Shana Cleveland opened both shows, with Will Sprott from Shannon and the Clams on keyboards. Her music filled the room with an atmosphere of ethereal psychedelic beauty, that was annihilated by an audience that wouldn’t shut the hell up. Even after making jokes about how the ghost of Christopher Columbus would come if they didn’t be quiet, the crowd was still loud and distracting during her both her performances. She handled it like a champ and was a true delight to watch, with her surfer “I don’t give a fuck” attitude, witty banter and fingerpicking skills that rival Elliott Smith. Through the madness, Cleveland and Sprott both came off as beautiful souls with a true artistic connection to one another and the music they were playing, which was captivating to see.
Wednesday’s Mountain Goats performance started off in the traditional fashion, with the full band playing a few songs on stage before leaving and letting Darnielle play solo. Wednesday’s setlist included more older songs, an unbelievable treat for a huge fan like myself. The first group of songs included a full band reworking of “The Coroner’s Gambit”, from the 2000 album of the same name back when Darnielle recorded solo on a Panasonic RX-FT500 boombox. Darnielle’s solo performance included other old Panasonic classics “Distant Stations” and “Minnesota” (!!!), and when the band came back, they played an amazing 4 songs from 2002’s Tallahassee, my favorite album of all time, and another full band reworking of a song from The Coroner’s Gambit, this time “Insurance Fraud #2”. The older songs flowed seamlessly with the songs from the new album, which were also amazing live. Wednesday’s show was a true gift for the long time Mountain Goats fan (read: me), but it was also a cool way to make their older music accessible for new fans who may be put off by listening to boom box recordings.
Thursday’s show had a more traditional set list, but started off in a completely untraditional fashion: the show opened with the band on stage and Darnielle in one of Thalia Hall’s historic opera boxes, practically hanging off the side singing “No Children”, a fan favorite traditionally saved for the encore, which was absolutely amazing to witness. Most audiences at Mountain Goats concerts are pretty reserved, but for approximately 2 minutes and 48 seconds everyone in the audience completely lost it, including myself (I’m pretty sure screaming “I hope we both die” behind my camera while shooting in the photo pit at Thalia Hall will go down as the single greatest moment of my life, don’t judge me).
The rest of the career spanning setlist featured songs from 10 different albums, most being from their latest release. While I didn’t immediately fall in love with Dragons upon first listen, hearing the new songs live completely changed my perspective.
The energy of the band was high, and it was great to see them perform with Peter Hughes again (he was noticeably absent the last time I saw them perform at the Old Town School of Folk Music). Though the music tends to be on the quieter side, the Mountain Goats are one of those bands that it just doesn’t feel right sitting down to watch. It was nice seeing them at Thalia Hall as a full band, where they had seated options for people who prefer a quieter performance, but also an awesome space to stand and rock out to “Sax Rohmer #1” (if anyone saw the long haired girl holding her glasses while headbanging to that song both nights, sorry for partying).
Both performances were lovely, and it was amazing to have the opportunity to get the entire experience of both nights. I always assumed when bands played the same venue two nights in a row it would be a similar setlist and not be worth it to see both shows, but seeing the Mountain Goats two nights in a row completely changed my mind, and I would do it again in a heartbeat.
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In case you haven’t heard the breaking news, I am a huge fan of the Mountain Goats. I’ve been obsessed with them since I was 18, and have an old iPod classic filled with every single album, EP, cassette tape and random show recording I can get my hands on that’s gotten me through some of my darkest moments in life. So, when I got the news that they were playing at Thalia Hall on my birthday in support of their latest album In League With Dragons, AND the next day as well, I knew I had to be at both, one day to get lit and dance (as one does on their birthday) and one day to be a professional photographer-writer-human and record my experiences. You know, for science. Since this would be my 10th and 11th time seeing John Darnielle live, I thought I knew what to expect but both nights were unpredictable, awesome and totally exceeded my expectations.
Shana Cleveland opened both shows, with Will Sprott from Shannon and the Clams on keyboards. Her music filled the room with an atmosphere of ethereal psychedelic beauty, that was annihilated by an audience that wouldn’t shut the hell up. Even after making jokes about how the ghost of Christopher Columbus would come if they didn’t be quiet, the crowd was still loud and distracting during her both her performances. She handled it like a champ and was a true delight to watch, with her surfer “I don’t give a fuck” attitude, witty banter and fingerpicking skills that rival Elliott Smith. Through the madness, Cleveland and Sprott both came off as beautiful souls with a true artistic connection to one another and the music they were playing, which was captivating to see.
Wednesday’s Mountain Goats performance started off in the traditional fashion, with the full band playing a few songs on stage before leaving and letting Darnielle play solo. Wednesday’s setlist included more older songs, an unbelievable treat for a huge fan like myself. The first group of songs included a full band reworking of “The Coroner’s Gambit”, from the 2000 album of the same name back when Darnielle recorded solo on a Panasonic RX-FT500 boombox. Darnielle’s solo performance included other old Panasonic classics “Distant Stations” and “Minnesota” (!!!), and when the band came back, they played an amazing 4 songs from 2002’s Tallahassee, my favorite album of all time, and another full band reworking of a song from The Coroner’s Gambit, this time “Insurance Fraud #2”. The older songs flowed seamlessly with the songs from the new album, which were also amazing live. Wednesday’s show was a true gift for the long time Mountain Goats fan (read: me), but it was also a cool way to make their older music accessible for new fans who may be put off by listening to boom box recordings.
Thursday’s show had a more traditional set list, but started off in a completely untraditional fashion: the show opened with the band on stage and Darnielle in one of Thalia Hall’s historic opera boxes, practically hanging off the side singing “No Children”, a fan favorite traditionally saved for the encore, which was absolutely amazing to witness. Most audiences at Mountain Goats concerts are pretty reserved, but for approximately 2 minutes and 48 seconds everyone in the audience completely lost it, including myself (I’m pretty sure screaming “I hope we both die” behind my camera while shooting in the photo pit at Thalia Hall will go down as the single greatest moment of my life, don’t judge me).
The rest of the career spanning setlist featured songs from 10 different albums, most being from their latest release. While I didn’t immediately fall in love with Dragons upon first listen, hearing the new songs live completely changed my perspective.
The energy of the band was high, and it was great to see them perform with Peter Hughes again (he was noticeably absent the last time I saw them perform at the Old Town School of Folk Music). Though the music tends to be on the quieter side, the Mountain Goats are one of those bands that it just doesn’t feel right sitting down to watch. It was nice seeing them at Thalia Hall as a full band, where they had seated options for people who prefer a quieter performance, but also an awesome space to stand and rock out to “Sax Rohmer #1” (if anyone saw the long haired girl holding her glasses while headbanging to that song both nights, sorry for partying).
Both performances were lovely, and it was amazing to have the opportunity to get the entire experience of both nights. I always assumed when bands played the same venue two nights in a row it would be a similar setlist and not be worth it to see both shows, but seeing the Mountain Goats two nights in a row completely changed my mind, and I would do it again in a heartbeat.
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