Concert Review: The Decemberists

RP and MtK made their way to a Decemberists show in Western Massachusetts over the weekend. This is our attempt to compare notes and give our perspective on the show.

The Basics:
Venue: Mountain Park, South Hadley, MA
Band(s): The Decemberists, Heartless Bastards (opener)
Date: Aug 16, 2009 
Attendance: A bunch.

The Venue
MtK: The venue was marketed as “incomplete.” Some research found that the land was formerly an amusement park, and that it had sat dormant for a number of years. The proprietor sees it one day looking like Tanglewood, but for the time being it’s a lot like hanging out in a gravel yard. Except, somehow less comfortable. The portable stage wasn’t bad, and quite sizable, but the lighting was meh. Sound was decent, except for the crowd noise being re-broadcast through the speakers.
RP:  Certainly wasn’t the best outdoor venue I’ve ever been to (SPAC).  I wish I had brought chairs and booze. It certainly could be very nice.  The hill infront of the stage has a nice slope making it easy to see the stage.  It was a bit…rocky…. it was more mountain than grassy knoll but it just needs some time.

The Bands
MtK: The opener, The Heartless Bastards had disappointingly little to do with the upcoming Quintin Tarantino film Inglorious Basterds. That said, they rocked decently, but didn’t have anything that made them stand out. A quick Wikipediaing at the concert (via the Palm Pre, available exclusively on the Sprint Now Network) we were able to determine that for a band that is only 6 years old, they have more former members than members currently in the band.

The Decemberists on the other hand are a very musically-tight outfit, and despite having a large number of members in it’s touring form, they play very very tightly on stage. They played their complete rock opera Hazards of Love followed by a shorter set of original tunes and possibly the best cover of Heart’s Crazy On You I’ve ever heard.

RP:  The heartless bastards were kinda forgettable, I remember wondering to myself how many songs they played… and this was only after about 10 minutes of the show.  Edgy classic rock style (actually kind of similar to the latest Decemberists album) mixed with the female vocalists growl.

The Decemberists are hands down one of my favorite bands of all time.  I’ll openly admit my bias towards pretty much everything they do.  They opened the show by blazing through the entire Hazards of Love album without break in roughly 55 minutes.  The album definitely works live, it is by no means “bad” or “boring.”  I thought the really hard rocking sections shined in an uptempo live setting and the two female vocalists really held their own.  (on the album I always thought Shara Worden sounded a little forced)  They were especially great in the cover of Heart’s Crazy on You.

In one word…
MtK: If I was to describe the concert in a word, I’d have to say “concert.” Other words could include “music,” “gravel” and “not a restaurant.”
RP: Their older material holds up so well its worth the price of admission, even if it’s not the majority of what is played.

by mashthekeys
2 years ago