Modest Mouse-DC Night Two

     Modest Mouse finished it’s two night stand at The 930 Club in Washington DC tonight for another sold out crowd.

The band took the stage at 9:50, with frontman Isaac Brock wearing extremely short purple shorts with rainbow sidings. Short shorts in full effect, 5’6 Isaac tore into The Whale Song resembling a playground bully; thrashing and stomping as he struck blows with his guitar. 

Moving into I Came As a Rat, Brock continued his assault, playing 3rd Planet with nearly the entire crowd singing along, specifically “I got this thing that I consider my only of heart of FUCKING PEOPLE OVER!” 

Dashboard was played next, sounding a bit light on Tom’s horn. 

Isaac grabbed his Banjo, literally beating the living shit out of us with King Rat. His shouts of “WELL!” were echoed throughout the crowd, with Tom’s horn finally coming through, meshing perfectly with Isaac’s mumbling. 

Rarely played Heart Cooks Brain followed, with Isaac using a music stand to read the lyrics. He joked with the crowd about how he’d learnt the song in a manner that ensured he would forget it every time he tried to play it. 

Although a bit mellower (is that even possible?) than the night before, Tiny Cities Made of Ashes brought about shuffling from most and full on dancing from others, including myself. 

A tighter, more in sync Ansel was played, with most fans bobbing along and seemingly enjoying it. 

Just when I was getting my bearings straight from the ass kicking delivered by King Rat, Isaac shouted “I got one, two, three, four, five, six six six,” throwing himself into an extremely jammed out version of Breakthrough. Screaming into his pickups, Isaac made it known: He will beat you up and take your wallet, then make you cry in front of your girlfriend. 

Taking a turn for the slower, Bob Dylan’s You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere was covered again, with a bit of jamming towards the end. 

Not wanting to stay slow for too long, Parting of the Sensory built to a deafening crescendo, with a violent mosh pit erupting as Isaac chanted about our eventual return to mere carbon. 

Good News For People Who Love Bad News was showcased next, with Black Cadillacs, World at Large, and The View being played, respectively. The View was hands down my favorite performance of the night, with Isaac’s lyrical excellence in full view: As life gets longer, awful feels softer/ Well it feels pretty soft to me/ And if it takes shit to make bliss, then I feel pretty blissfully. 

     An encore break was taken, with Isaac returning to take a seat at the drum set, with the stage hands on guitar. The rest of the band eventually returning to play Custom Concern. Recently debuted Lampshades on Fire was next, with a few members of the crowd singing along. The bridge, heard 1 minute into the Sasquatch recording, seemed to have been extended with Isaac jamming a bit. 

Just to ensure we wouldn’t be getting up anytime soon, Shit Luck exploded into a barrage of beat downs, once again leaving the crowd moshing and flailing. 

Missed the Boat followed with most of the crowd once again backing Brock on vocals. 

Closing out the night was Trailer Trash, with an awesome ending jam. Tom Peloso took the bass on this one, handling what I consider one of the greatest bass lines ever conceived, impeccably. Isaac added some lyrics from Perpetual Motion Machine throughout the jam, ending the show on a high note. 

Overall, this was an awesome show. Isaac and company sounded a bit tighter and cohesive tonight, eliminating the little mistakes of last night. Tomorrow brings round three with the band... onto Pittsburgh.