Concert review: Modest Mouse

A view from the pit: Modest Mouse rocks the City Market. Photo by Gen Yamaguchi/The Star

If downtown development proceeds as expected, Friday night's Modest  Mouse show could very well have been one of the last City Market shows (two more have been booked for this summer).

With a brand-new outdoor venue at its disposal (it's going up amid all that development between the Sprint Arena and the renovated Midland Theater), concert/event promoter AEG, which now runs the City Market, will certainly steer shows like this one closer to all the new bars, clubs and restaurants that are supposed to open up in the Kansas City Live District.

If the City Market concerts go away, I won't mourn their passing. Friday's typified why these shows are better in concept than execution. Modest Mouse put on a dynamic show; at least it looked like it. You could see and feel the synchronization between the band's two drummers; and Isaac Brock managed to convey some vocal authority and stage presence. They still remind me of "Speaking in Tongues"-era Talking Heads, without David Byrne's flash or senses of humor and irony.

As usual, the sound was poor throughout about 80 percent of the venue. Complaining about the acoustics down there is like bitching about the salt in the ocean, I suppose, but things seemed worse than usual this evening.

Maybe my tolerance is waning for places that offer poor sightlines and grungy sound (including several bursts of feedback throughout the night). Whatever accents, twists and new flavors guitarist Johnny Marr is adding to the band got lost in the muck and murk, although I noted that during "Education," his lines vaguely resembled Mike Campbell's on Tom Petty's "Breakdown."

Close in, the sound was better and the crowd was stoked. Unfortunately, it was so packed up there that the heat and humidity rendered a few people nearly unconscious so they had to be carried or dragged away from the throng (alcohol could have contributed to their conditions, too). The rush-hour downpour only made the air thicker and steamier.

All things considered, it was a good show, but nothing like the Uptown show a couple years ago. After a laborious soundcheck, MM came out and spent some of the show's best moments in the first three songs: "Dig Your Grave," a sped-up version of "Paper Thin Walls," then "Dashboard."

Several cuts later they did a straight-up rendition of "Float On" that stirred the mood all the way back through the Buzz's VIP area, where the buzz was low-wattage most of the night.

Other highlights:  "Bukowski," "Satin in a Coffin," "We've Got Everything," "Fire It Up" and the encore, "Black Cadillacs," which started a sing-along that startled some of the parents in the crowd.

The good news about all this, I guess, is how big the crowd was -- somewhere around 8,000 I'd guess. It was nice to see so many people show up and, despite the heat and other conditions, stick around for about 100 minutes to hear a band that loathes cliches, seeks adventure and follows no one's formulas but its own.

| Timothy Finn, The Star

Comments

[J]

"started a sing-along that startled some of the parents in the crowd."
I can't imagine why;)
Great show. Wish I'd caught their last show in town. Brock's intensity carried through at least to the spot 100 feet away from the stage, where we sat.
Sound check was a bit much, yes.

[jeff]

how was band of horses?

[wadkc]

I don't care if was Pink Floyd or Steely Dan in their day, the sound and sight lines would suck at the River Market. I refuse to see a show there. Not to mention standing in a parking lot like your waiting in line for American Idol.....

[tim finn]

I caught about three or four songs from Band of Horses. They were OK, considering the circumstances. I'll catch them when they come back to a smaller venue.

[ryan]

I had an easier time enjoying Band of Horses than Modest Mouse mostly due to what the article aluded to. The crowd hadn't 'bunched up' yet, the 3 hour sweat fest hadn't worn on me as much, and even though there were problems with Horse's sound as well for the first 2 songs, at least it was corrected and they were able to play a feedback free set from then on.

I swear HALF of the sung lyrics on "Tiny Cities Made of Ashes" were cut out (totally inaudible) or unintelligible.

And you know the sight lines are bad when the singer for Band of Horses didn't realize there were a few thousand people more to his far right. ^_^

[Jason]

Spot on review of MM. First time seeing Band of Horses, they were excellent. very impressive.

[SoonerThought]

Meanwhile...that same night, Colin Hay put on a hell of a good show at Crown Center.

[Dylan]

Setlist?