To get a sold-out show on a Friday at the Paramount, it takes quite a band, and the Decemberists is just the band to do so.
Opening for the Portlanders was Mountain Man, a folk trio of sweet-voiced girls from Vermont. With tonal hints of Joanna Newsom and Emmylou Harris, Mountain Man was a beautiful way to start the show. It was literally just the three of them standing in the middle of the stage with the guitar and their voices.
“Animal Tracks” is a particularly pleasant song, one that spotlighted the lovely harmonies, especially with the unmatched acoustics of the Paramount. While I’d describe the music as beautiful, Mountain Man’s persona was so adorable. In the midst of their 30-minute set, they told stories about life on the road, watching animal documentaries about sea lions mating, and getting high, giggling in the process.
“I’d like to dedicate the first part of this next song to these two ladies over here, because we’ve been touring since about August,” vocalist Molly Erin Sarle said as she introduced one of the songs, “and it’s crazy touring, and I get to do it with them!” It was met with a crowd of “awwwws.”
Mountain Man does have a Bandcamp page, which is the only place you can get their music – so do it. At least listen to it, because their harmonies will give you goosebumps.
After a half hour intermission came the Decemberists, which I will say put on a great show. But I already knew that, as this was my third time seeing them. However, this was by far the longest set I’ve seen from them and by anyone in a long while. They started at 9:10 and didn’t finish until about 11. I only had to pay $6 for parking, but it would have been worth a $30 parking spot to see that whole show.
Jumping right into “The Apology Song,” the Decemberists followed it with a few new songs starting with “Calamity Song” from The King is Dead. But then we went back to the old favourites like “The Bagman’s Gambit” and “Crane Wife” (1, 2, & 3). “Crane Wife 2” even made me feel like crying as the whole venue was dead silent and swayed along with the beautiful ballad, before Colin Meloy started into the third section of the song. It was a wonderfully balanced show, full of emotion, fun, amazing music, and lots of laughs. I’ll get into that laughs in just a minute.
Intermixed with the 17-song set list was frontman Meloy’s undeniable banter, where he proclaimed how much he loved Seattle, how much he loved Mountain Man, and how he “could be doing something more important with his life, but [he’s] just in a band.” That’s plenty important, Mr. Meloy, plenty important.
It was nearly 10:30, and I knew we were closing in on the finale because that’s always where “16 Military Wives” lands in the set list, and the last song of the regular set list was “The Chimbley Sweep.” As it’s a relatively short song, there had to be an extended interlude to go along with it. So right at the interlude of the song, Meloy put his guitar down, and went down in the pit to more or less “borrow” people’s bags from the front row. Then Meloy and guitarist Chris Funk proceeded to empty out the bags on the stage. Funk put on a fuzzy scarf while Meloy put a cap and sat at the drumkit. Drummer John Moen took the mic and crooned for a few minutes while Meloy beat at the drums like an excited teenage boy. Literally, this normally about 3-minute song went on for at least 8 minutes. Soon though, Meloy left the drums and went digging in the bags again and found a phone.
“I’m going to call Anna, okay?” And he dialed the phone, it rang, it rang, and finally Anna picked up.
“Hello, Anna? My name is Colin.” And then Meloy went on to try and explain what was going on, that he was in a band, and that it was too bad she couldn’t be at the show.
“The audience is going to cheer now, okay?” And he held out the phone to all of us to scream wildly, just so Anna could know how much she was missing.
That being the first finale, the Decemberists left the stage for a few minutes after the band handed back the bags to the girls in the front row. But only a few short minutes, then they took to the stage again fro Encore #1, where they played “Eli, The Barrow Boy” and “The Mariner’s Revenge Song,” which ended in all of the people in the crowd pretending to be eaten by a whale. Out of context, we probably all sounded like crazy people, but that’s okay.
The second encore was the stripped-down lovely ballad, “June Hymn,” one of my favourites off The King is Dead, which was recorded in a barn outside Portland. It was a perfect way to end a nothing less than epic Decemberists show. I can’t wait to see them again at the Sasquatch Festival in three months.
Set List:
The Apology Song
Calamity Song
Rox in the Box
Rise to Me
We Both Go Down Together
The Bagman’s Gambit
Won’t Want for Love (Margaret In the Taiga)
Crane Wife 1 & 2
Crane Wife 3
Don’t Carry It All
Down by the Water
This Is Why We Fight
16 Military Wives
The Chimbley Sweep
Encore:
Eli, The Barrow Boy
The Mariner’s Revenge Song
Encore 2:
June Hymn
