Modest Mouse: Stomping Ground

Modest Mouse w/ Mimicking Birds
Paramount Theatre, Seattle, WA
08.24.15 – 08.25.15

Fleeting like the shadow of Bigfoot and just as iconic in the Northwest music scene, Modest Mouse came to inhabit this neck of the woods with a two-night rendezvous at the Paramount on Monday and Tuesday. A Seattle staple turned Portland transplant, this band has decisively influenced the world of indie, boasting a rich history that reaches all the way back to when flannel was cool the first time. It was abundantly clear that the Seattle fanbase has remained alive and well as they all packed in like sardines. Even after an eight-year album hiatus – a drought which ended with the release of their sixth album, Strangers to Ourselves, earlier this year – the fans here still take pride in calling the Issaquah front man one of their own. Besides possessing a surgeon’s precision to architect intricate, animated songs with thick, solemn bones, nobody can pump out converse one-liners like Isaac Brock.

In true Modest Mouse fashion, Monday and Tuesday night at the Paramount were each their own animal. While Monday carried a more subdued, albeit fun atmosphere, the energy of the crowd was significantly stronger on Tuesday. The set lists in particular were vastly different, sharing only “Dashboard,” “King Rat” (sort of), and “Lampshades on Fire.” The mix was good, and it exemplified Brock’s confidence and pride in his vast array of work. The age range of the crowd hovered mainly in the late twenties or early thirties; all since grown up, some even brought their children along.

Two inconspicuous, fake owls adorned some amp stacks, as heavy fog rolled over the stage and strobes of red and white pierced the air. For a few minutes, an intense droning buzz, much like a swarm of bees, enveloped the theatre. It was a palette cleanser for the ears. The band took the stage to much fanfare; Brock wore a mix of short-sleeve button-ups depicting a variety of birds, most notably the flamingo. The stage was jammed with musicians and instruments of every kind. Horns, maracas, multiple drum sets topped with chimes, keyboards, a variety of strings, and what was possibly a metal bucket. Brock led the conversation with his trademark rambling, spewing half-stories about exercising at Queen concerts and his last visit to the Paramount to see Louis C.K. (maybe). Every song was a rearrange of tools, and Modest Mouse became a moving circus of sound behind a haze of fog and ever-changing lights. Both nights ran for an hour and a half, ending in two different encores, followed by the swallowing sound of bees. The only sting came with the house lights, as two great shows called curtain.

Monday Set List:
The Tortoise and the Tourist
Third Planet
Lampshades on Fire
Coyotes
The View
Invisible
Grey Ice Water
Bukowski
This Devil’s Workday
King Rat
Dashboard
Pups to Dust
Cowboy Dan
Float On
Night on the Sun
Encore:
Fire It Up
Spitting Venom

Tuesday Set List:
The World at Large
Black Cadillacs
Dark Center of the Universe
Dashboard
Sugar Boats
Shit in Your Cut
Doin’ the Cockroach
Lampshades on Fire
King Rat (abbreviated)
Satin in a Coffin
Gravity Rides Everything
A Different City
The Ground Walks, with Time in a Box
Ocean Breathes Salty
The Good Times Are Killing Me
Encore:
Of Course We Know
Dramamine
Fly Trapped In a Jar