Of course I had to get through Kaki King first on Saturday night. A year ago, I would’ve been all about the technical wizardry (one of my favorite bands is Joan of Arc), but I’m less impressed by it now. This girl certainly is talented, I must admit. My biggest qualm with her set was the schizophrenic nature of it. She would play a really techy song on the acoustic, then go into a shoegaze song, and then a “hardcore” song, as she puts it (Ray Cappo is shaking his head somewhere).
As the lights went dim, The Four Season‘s “December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)” played on the P.A. Once the drummer and the bassist swaggered out, John Darnielle entered the stage as The Four Season’s Frankie Valli sang “Oh I-I-I, get that funny feeling when she walks in the room.”
He kicked the set off with an exciting three-banger: “Have to Explode”; “Heretic Pride”; and “Pigs That Ran Straightaway into the Water, Triumph Of”. Of course, the evening wouldn’t be the same without Darnielle’s classic banter (this show’s highlight was his Mario story as he segues into “Thank You Mario, But Our Princess Is In Another Castle”).
He played some solo songs, some songs with Kaki King from their new Black Pear Tree EP, a Morrissey cover (“Suedehead”!), and a song that sounded nothing like Mountain Goats (“Super Genesis”). After that lull in the set, enter crowd pleasers! “This Year” jump-started the energy and the end of the set. A mellow rendition of the classic “Dance Music” got the audience pepped as the drums stopped and everyone bellowed “And I don’t want to die alone!”
After “The Mess Inside”, the band walked off the stage. . . without playing “Palmcorder Yajna”. The very song that introduced me to the wonders of The Mountain Goats, and a popular one from his repertoire, was nowhere to be found! Thankfully, after the security guards back stage teased us by kicking the side door open, The Mountain Goats came out again and played the song I was waiting all night to hear.
Though the middle of the set was lacking a little, the beginning and end of the set more than made up for it.
The Mountain Goats: website | myspace | Heretic Pride review | @ the Slowdown
Kaki King: website | myspace | @ the Slowdown
Guest Reporter: Shaun Seneviratne (NYC)
Photos: Bethany Smith, @ the Slowdown
