Here are some things about Saturday night's Mountain Goats show at Bowery Ballroom that made it one of the best shows I've ever seen (and I've seen him at least ten times):
1. It was The Mountain Goats! My favorite band. The "best...lyricist in America." - Sasha Frere Jones, The New Yorker. (The ... stands for "non-hip-hop" but I'm leaving that out out of protest.)
2. Despite the sold-out crowd, you could hear a pin drop during the quiet songs. No cell phones rang.
3. If people were taking pictures, they did it in such a respectful way that I (the concert photo police) didn't even notice.
4. John brought a cellist on about halfway through and it was so beautiful that I made a really silly little vow in my head to learn the cello. Except for some reason my vow was "Instead of drinking wine, I will learn the cello." Then I got a flashback to when I was a toddler and I got in trouble for getting into my mom's cello case and getting the wax all over my hands, and I thought "I must learn the cello, for it is in my blood." I thought this the way people think a certain outfit or pair of shoes is the one thing standing between them and happiness. (Needless to say, in the harsh light of yesterday I decided to leave the cello playing to the experts.)
5. He played "up the wolves" and everyone sang the chorus at the top of their lungs.
6. He played No Children, ditto.
7. He played The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton (download here) , which is one of my top 3 favorite songs of all time, and when we all sang the lines "when you punish a person for dreaming his dream/don't expect him to thank or forgive you/ the best ever death metal band out of denton/will in time both outpace and outlive you" I cried a little, I was so happy. Then we all did the devil sign as we sang "hail Satan." It was awesome.
8. I've never seen a New York audience act so much like a non-New York audience. Meaning: we were putty in John's hands, hanging on his every word, and not like groupies - like people whose awe is actually justified. Just this big happy group of (probably) atheists getting our religious ecstasy the only way we can (and you can't tell me it's not the exact same thing - I have a good memory.) I kept thinking, you know how New York sends Broadway shows and big bands around to the small towns, and everyone comes out, to get a taste of big city life? Well this was the other side of that coin. The Mountain Goats come to the big city and give us a taste of the authenticity we're all always missing in this superficial city, or should be.
In short: John Darnielle is God.
(Thanks to Jeff and Colin for the last-minute ticket!)
The Mountain Goats will be playing the Daily Show 10th Anniversary benefit at Irving Plaza November 16.
i'm going to see the mountain goats in october AND november. i am greatly excited. besides kevin devine and incubus, they rule my world. i looove 'going to georgia'. did they play that one?
Posted by: tam | October 02, 2006 at 05:14 PM
Someday he will play No Children at a concert I attend. Someday.
Posted by: Molly | October 03, 2006 at 12:07 AM
i was there at that show.. and i was amazed as usual. i brought a friend who had never see Mt. Goats live before: after the show he commented, that he had a new understanding of 'Death Metal'because anyone who can command 500 people to chant 'HAIL SATAN!' must have some sort of esoteric power. my fourth Mt. Goats show was amazing! glad you enjoyed yours.
<3 stage right
Posted by: Joey Gerace | October 04, 2006 at 10:16 PM