clivestaples2Articles → The Decemberists - February 6, 2011, State Theatre, Minneapolis, MN
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18 fév. 2011, 3h05m
I must admit, it took me more than a few listens to come around to The King Is Dead. The title prepared me for another lengthy, heavily-chaptered epic in familiar Decemberists style. And since they performed The Hazards of Love in full the last time I saw them live, I expected the same with the new material. I was surprised and challenged on both accounts.
Down by the Water was the first new track played for the audience at the State Theatre and moved the seated crowd as much as it could, but was the second song of the show. It was preceded by Colin Meloy rambling into the backstage microphone pretending to be the mayor of Portland introducing the band, and they came out to play a truly unexpected opener, California One/Youth and Beauty Brigade. It was a comfortable warm-up for all parties, and included an amusing transition of Mr. Meloy lying on the floor while casually strumming his guitar. When the band was all on their feet, they were the solid fivesome we've come to expect, although their spectacle was less than the show for their previous album. During King is Dead tracks, which went on to quickly include Calamity Song and Rise To Me (dedicated to Meloy's wife, who was in attendance), the backdrop was an outline of a pine ridge lit in deep green or hazy red.
Soon into the set the band invited on a guest female vocalist who filled in for Gillian Welch's parts on the new album; she was also a multi-instrumentalist who played along with several other songs. She was even given a chance to be in the spotlight on the second most-unexpected pick of the night:Won't Want for Love (Margaret in the Taiga). This thumping chapter from Hazards showed that she could stand in for yet another stalwart singer, Shara Worden. Alas, I don't remember this woman's name, except that she is apparently a local and Garrison Keillor's righthand woman.
The night continued at a quick pace with little banter from the band, although there was an amusing moment when Meloy's harmonica was brought out on a cloth-covered pedestal mid-song and taken away before the tune's last note rang out. We stomped and swayed (in our cursed seats) toRox In The Box, and I fell silent for the song that has struck me most fully from the new batch, January Hymn, impressive to hear in Minnesota mid-winter. The great thing about The Decemberists is that you get your money's worth because all the songs sound like they do on the album, only fuller and more immediate.
Older selections included the surgingThe Infanta, the ever-popular Sixteen Military Wives, an announced "summer song" that wasn't Summersong, but instead July, July!, and a ditty I had strummed earlier to get in the mood for the show, The Crane Wife 3. The backdrop continued to shift and bring us back to the land of the King. I snuck to the lobby for All Arise!, which I considered good timing as it was the new song I've been the slowest in coming around to, and for the regular set closer we heard This Is Why We Fight. And here my evolving interpretation of the new sound was cemented into place: The King is Dead is a summary phrase, not a prologue or a prelude. It's a celebration album, a sound about a bright country finding time for personal pleasures after the long reign of a tyrant comes to a close. Even when they remember the fighting, the thoughts of the people are tinged with hope and empowerment. The songs, like the concert itself came to be, are succinctly stated and not overthought. And they are enough.
But the set was not quite enough, and of course The Decemberists are too full of pomp to let a good encore (or two) pass them by. Upon the band's return we got one of their most underrated songs,The Hazards of Love 4 (The Drowned), a truly aching tale. By this time we were finally all standing, so a little more rocking out was possible for the song that propelled their popularity a few years back on The Current, the one and only Rake's Song. The audience loved it, and I loved seeing Jenny Conlee pound on those drums (throughout the night she had shown off her accordion solo skills and even took harmonica duty when Meloy didn't play it himself).
The band left again, then returned for a final offering. To put us at eight out of ten King tracks we were hypnotized byJune Hymn. It proved an effective way to instill hope that we would leave January behind and see that sunrise. And I left thinking that I had heard more than a few songs that night that would be or were already trickling into the musical exchange between friends and family, songs to commemorate simple celebration.
Down by the Water was the first new track played for the audience at the State Theatre and moved the seated crowd as much as it could, but was the second song of the show. It was preceded by Colin Meloy rambling into the backstage microphone pretending to be the mayor of Portland introducing the band, and they came out to play a truly unexpected opener, California One/Youth and Beauty Brigade. It was a comfortable warm-up for all parties, and included an amusing transition of Mr. Meloy lying on the floor while casually strumming his guitar. When the band was all on their feet, they were the solid fivesome we've come to expect, although their spectacle was less than the show for their previous album. During King is Dead tracks, which went on to quickly include Calamity Song and Rise To Me (dedicated to Meloy's wife, who was in attendance), the backdrop was an outline of a pine ridge lit in deep green or hazy red. Soon into the set the band invited on a guest female vocalist who filled in for Gillian Welch's parts on the new album; she was also a multi-instrumentalist who played along with several other songs. She was even given a chance to be in the spotlight on the second most-unexpected pick of the night:
Won't Want for Love (Margaret in the Taiga). This thumping chapter from Hazards showed that she could stand in for yet another stalwart singer, Shara Worden. Alas, I don't remember this woman's name, except that she is apparently a local and Garrison Keillor's righthand woman.The night continued at a quick pace with little banter from the band, although there was an amusing moment when Meloy's harmonica was brought out on a cloth-covered pedestal mid-song and taken away before the tune's last note rang out. We stomped and swayed (in our cursed seats) to
Rox In The Box, and I fell silent for the song that has struck me most fully from the new batch, January Hymn, impressive to hear in Minnesota mid-winter. The great thing about The Decemberists is that you get your money's worth because all the songs sound like they do on the album, only fuller and more immediate.Older selections included the surging
The Infanta, the ever-popular Sixteen Military Wives, an announced "summer song" that wasn't Summersong, but instead July, July!, and a ditty I had strummed earlier to get in the mood for the show, The Crane Wife 3. The backdrop continued to shift and bring us back to the land of the King. I snuck to the lobby for All Arise!, which I considered good timing as it was the new song I've been the slowest in coming around to, and for the regular set closer we heard This Is Why We Fight. And here my evolving interpretation of the new sound was cemented into place: The King is Dead is a summary phrase, not a prologue or a prelude. It's a celebration album, a sound about a bright country finding time for personal pleasures after the long reign of a tyrant comes to a close. Even when they remember the fighting, the thoughts of the people are tinged with hope and empowerment. The songs, like the concert itself came to be, are succinctly stated and not overthought. And they are enough.But the set was not quite enough, and of course The Decemberists are too full of pomp to let a good encore (or two) pass them by. Upon the band's return we got one of their most underrated songs,
The Hazards of Love 4 (The Drowned), a truly aching tale. By this time we were finally all standing, so a little more rocking out was possible for the song that propelled their popularity a few years back on The Current, the one and only Rake's Song. The audience loved it, and I loved seeing Jenny Conlee pound on those drums (throughout the night she had shown off her accordion solo skills and even took harmonica duty when Meloy didn't play it himself).The band left again, then returned for a final offering. To put us at eight out of ten King tracks we were hypnotized by
June Hymn. It proved an effective way to instill hope that we would leave January behind and see that sunrise. And I left thinking that I had heard more than a few songs that night that would be or were already trickling into the musical exchange between friends and family, songs to commemorate simple celebration.