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Modest Mouse, Man-Man, and Love as Laughter
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"..:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Greece is on fire, so I guess we have to play here", shouted Isaac Brock, lead singer and guitarist of Modest Mouse, at the Gibson Amphitheatre on May 13th. The show was originally supposed to be held at The Greek Theatre but due to a very large and inconvenient fire, the venue was switched to the Gibson. Love as Laughter, an indie-folk band from New York, was first to take the stage. Their set started out strong with their catchy and up-beat sound, witty lyrics, and relaxed stage presence, there wasn't too much head-banging, but it was all good fun. The last two songs they played were rather slow and melancholy, and intensely distorted by the sound system, to add insult to injury the lighting must have been malfunctioning because the band was in almost complete darkness, a lackluster ending to an underappreciated band's performance. I recommend checking out one of Love as Laughter's CDs or heading over to their myspace and listening to a few tracks (or all of them) because they have quite a unique and diverse sound that was not fully expressed at the May 13th show.
Next to take the stage was Man-Man. The crowd laughed hysterically during the set change watching Christmas lights being strung around drum kits, a Persian rug laid out center stage, tons of miscellaneous items placed strategically on stage that appeared to have come from various garage sales. As band members filed on wearing white t-shirts and pants with various rips, fringes, and hanging threads mimicking American-Indian style clothing, war-paint, and head bands, too cool for school indie kids watched with delight and confusion. They almost didn't know what to do with a band that didn't take themselves too seriously, and wasn't afraid to "mix-it-up", to say the least. Their set was explosive, flying spoons, flying drummers, high-kicks, musical-chairs style instrument playing. There is nothing like Man-Man, it's like a rock-folk-polka-circus-cabaret, Man-Man's members act like 10 year old boys, making the stage their own private tree house or pirate ship or teepee. I had no idea what was going on, and I loved it. If one wasn't so distracted by all the seemingly well-organized pandemonium on stage, they would be able to notice how truly gifted the members of Man-Man are, some playing trumpet, guitar, and kazoo all in one song. The music covers almost every genre from jazz to hardcore, and each song is completely different from the last. From accordions, to trumpets, kazoos, squeaky toys, and spoons Man-Man incorporates the most elaborate combinations of instruments and somehow makes them all fit perfectly into each song. As I watched the drummer wearing a t-shirt over his head like an Arabian knight jump almost four feet into the air on a downbeat, a spoon came flying off stage and almost hit me in the face; I'd never seen anything like Man-Man before, but they blew me away, and in a world of uptight hipsters and guys whining about exes, Man-Man is just the thing we need.
Finally after an excruciatingly long set change Modest Mouse came on. Isaac, clad in a colorful striped sweater, walked on stage with a cigarette in his hand, as the crowd started screaming. When Johnny Marr (formerly of the Smiths) took the stage, I expected an uproarious explosion of cheers, what I got was loud applause. At that point I felt like schooling the entire pit section on exactly who was gracing them with his presence, "hello, it's JOHNNY MARR!" I yelled out to the crowd. I came back to Earth after a moment of almost fan-girl like appreciation just as they started playing Spitting Venom, the chaotic and inspirational anthem from the new album, complete with lingering trumpets and powerful drum beats. The members of Modest Mouse put everything they have into their music, nothing is ever mediocre or lacking in passion, the songs are anywhere from simple and uplifting to heavy and powerful, but they always seem to evoke some form of deep emotional feeling that can't necessarily be described, fans react almost instinctually to their sound. The set started out with songs from the new album, We Were Dead before the Ship Even Sank, which stays true to the Modest Mouse style, while still evolving and revealing aspects of a new sound, that we haven't heard before. I was very impressed by how "together" Isaac was, after hearing about how wasted Isaac used to get before shows I half-expected him to pass out half-way through the set; however, he was most definitely not drunk, and he even shared with the crowd some comedic banter in between songs, often during songs, as if some force was compelling him to, he'd be staring out above the crowd with a possessed look in his eyes, singing and shouting, talking and whispering, which made us all believe that it was more than just music that we were all dancing to. They played Float On, and the pit woke up, kids started dancing and singing along. At one point Isaac had the house lights turned on so he could "get a better look at all the people who came out" to see them play. The sound system was still experiencing technical difficulties, but Isaac and the boys made up for it by melting the faces off us indie kids with their aggressively poetic lyrics and their passionate and dance-worthy indie-rock beats. The show felt to me like being in a friend's basement watching my idols play right in front of me, and everyone seemed to be having fun singing along rocking out, even if they didn't all know who Johnny Marr was.
-Jersey Sarah