Review and Photos by Judy Won Photography – do not use photos without permission

The only time I’ve ever seen Modest Mouse before Friday night was for a brief three songs at Riot Fest roughly a month prior in Chicago.  Because I’ve practically never seen Modest Mouse perform before (I couldn’t see anything on stage because there was a solid crowd of roughly 10,000 people in front of me), I had no idea what to expect from their show or what kind of fans to see there.

The Washington indie rock band have gone through as many phases as a teenager has, with their sound changing from album to album.  Their set list for the chilly Friday night was comprised of 16 songs with a four song long encore.  They opened with “The Tortoise and the Tourist” off of their latest album Strangers to Ourselves.  The first single from the album, “Lampshades of Fire,” was the fourth song of the night, getting cheers from the majority of the crowd while I noticed that some older folks at the show just kind of stood there, not being as attentive as they were during other parts of the show.  Modest Mouse performed five songs off of their latest album, three songs off of We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank including the third song for the night, “Missed the Boat,”.

I expected them to play “The World at Large” off of their fourth full length album Good News for People Who Love Bad News, but alas, I was wrong.  They had a pretty solid track list of songs from that album, playing “Black Cadillacs” for the second song of the night.  Looking back at their set list, they did an excellent job at diversifying their set list with songs from all of their albums; to the point where you would barely heard multiple songs off of the same album being played back to back.  They did play one of their most popular songs “Float On” as well as ending the night with “The Good Times Are Killing Me,”.  The only song that was played off of their 2000 album The Moon & Antarctica was “Tiny Cities Made of Ashes” as their unofficial last song for the night.  “Cowboy Dan” and “Out of Gas” also played throughout the night from The Lonesome Crowded West.

Modest Mouse has been around longer than I have, which would explain their crowd.   The crowd was a sea of people averaging in their mid 20’s to 30’s with a handful of fans who looked like they were either in high school or had kids of their own in high school.  Out of the ump-teen number of shows I’ve been to, Modest Mouse’s crowd was definitely my favorite with how calm and mature every seemed to act. I honestly didn’t know what to expect because I was a young teenager when I first heard of them, and of course the first song I heard by them was “Float On”.

I’m glad I stuck around for the whole show despite the chilliness, which lead singer and guitarist Isaac Brock made multiple jokes about throughout the night.  While the band members themselves aren’t bouncing around the stage, jumping and dancing about while they perform, they still held the attention from the crowd nonetheless.  What they lack in intense stage presence is made up for in a witty frontman and a talented array of musicians.  If they come to a town near you, I suggest grabbing a ticket and attending to enjoy an energetic yet mellow night out.

Concert was Friday, October 16, 2015