Recommended Song of the Day + Modest Mouse

Issaquah, WA

8/25/09: Tiny City Made of Ashes, by Modest Mouse

Listen to it HERE

SO, Modest Mouse was fabulous. And while I am now a BIG fan of Aragon Ballroom and am convinced it would be my perfect wedding reception location, it. was. warm. UGH. (You may not know me in the flesh, but I am ALWAYS cold, so that is a big statement.)


As I've mentioned before, the only reason I did not feature Modest Mouse for my recommended artist/song of the day prior to this is because I could not narrow it down to just one song. Well, I decided on Tiny City Made of Ashes, of their album The Moon and Antartica, because it was SO FABULOUS live. I'd previously never even heard it! Ennnjoyyy!!!! :)

They put on a great show, full of songs spanning many of their 10ish albums. They opened the show with King Rat off their newest album, No One's First and You're Next, which was an awesome move as it got the crowd dancing immediately. (If you haven't seen the disturbing, Heath Ledger-directed video for that song yet, check it out HERE)

While they didn't play Float On (pro or con, you decide), I was happy they played the first ever song that introduced me to Modest Mouse, Satin in a Coffin.

When they closed the night, the crowd cheered as expected for an encore, and my God did MM make us deserve it. As I tweeted, definitely one of the longest, loudest encore provoking sessions I've ever been a part of. And while I'm inclined to complain about the length because the heat was nearly unbearable, I'm often irritated with bands who "end" the show, stand on the side of the stage for 20 seconds, and walk back on waving to the crowd. Ok, if you're going to do that, then don't "end" it, just keep playing. From this perspective, I appreciate MM's diva-ness. I'm not sure how long we cheered, stomped, yelled and clapped for, but as the crowd started tiring out the band teased us by flickering the lights to keep us going. When they finally came back out, they went right into Paper Thin Walls, which was awesome.

All in all, a great show! I nearly died in the heat, and when trying to get out of the venue, I nearly killed at least 8 people.
But I survived, and gained a new determination to listen to MORE Modest Mouse albums, MORE often. I LOVE goooooooood music.

Tracy :)

Click HERE to see my clip of Modest Mouse's performance of The View