Words and photos by Faith-Ann Young
crowd-surfing Obama & Chris Funk @ Terminal 5
It's hard to bring chamber folk to life with a sold-out audience who lives and breathes The Decemberists, but Loch Lomond did so blissfully. It's the strength of their music, not necessarily the strength of their live show (as they seemed a bit withdrawn and concentrated heavily on their instruments more than their audience) that makes it worthwhile. That said, Loch Lomond deserve all the accolades they are getting.
Meanwhile, the Decemberists evidently drank a lot of Obama Kool-Aid pre-show (Front-man Colin Meloy in particular) and were on a roll Wednesday night (11/5) [Obama was elected the next president of the United States just one night earlier].
- They started out early with a killer cover of Dreams by Fleetwood Mac (which brought some hard-core fans up front to tears)
- Colin Meloy joked about how bandmate Jenny Conlee must have voted for McCain because she made such a somber set list. When the crowd booed, he chuckled "just kidding, that's like saying fire in a crowd".....
- Meloy then yanked a peacock feather from the crowd (who brings a bloody peacock feather to a concert?) and busted out a wicked guitar solo using the feather instead of a hand........
- Meloy proceeded to run into the audience, steal a cellphone from an innocent audience member, call someone, and sing a whole song to the caller....while the jaw-dropped audience sang along in full chorus............
- Afterwards, Chris Funk picked up a full-sized Obama Cardboard Cut-Out, screamed OBAMMMA along the side of the stage, and then passed the cardboard through the crowd....
- As the crowd chanted "Yes We Can" and allowed Obama to crowdsurf, Colin simply smiled and said "yes we did"
- Bottom line: All those who reprimanded The Decemberists in the past for lackluster performances {editor's note: not me) et al. were rolling over in their already-made graves on Wednesday night....
Loch Lomond...
The Decemberists...
Decemberists NYC setlist (via)
Here was the setlist:
-Shanty For The Arethusa
-July, July
-Dreams [Fleetwood Mac] intro>Here I Dreamt I Was An Architect
-Valerie Plame
-O New England
-The Bachelor and The Bride
-The Engine Driver
-We Both Go Down Together (w/Amanda from Loch Lomond on viola (?))
-Record Year For Rain (w/Amanda from Loch Lomond on viola (?))
-Oceanside
-The Perfect Crime #2
-Days of Elaine
-O Valencia!>Dracula's Daughter interlude
-Culling of the Fold
-The Chimbley Sweep>
-16 Military Wives
-The Mariner's Revenge Song
---------------------
-Raincoat Song (Colin Meloy and John Moen)
-Eli, The Barrow Boy (Colin+Jenny Conlee+Chris Funk)
-Sons And Daughters (w/Loch Lomond)
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"All those who reprimanded The Decemberists in the past for lackluster performances" huh been to all the NYC shows since 2004's mercury lounge show when have they been lackluster?
Yes it was a great show eventhough the political talk was a bit much but fully understood being the night after Obama's win.
Posted by Anonymous | November 7, 2008 3:55 PM
don't forget Colin's opening remark
"from one blue state to another"
Posted by Anonymous | November 7, 2008 3:56 PM
I guess the days of playing Maxwell's are over?!
Posted by Anonymous | November 7, 2008 4:05 PM
"I guess the days of playing Maxwell's are over?!"
been over for years...
Posted by Anonymous | November 7, 2008 4:13 PM
they're always great, but this wasn't my favorite show of theirs by any means...
it's fine to do 1, maybe 2 crowd participation extended jam out interludes. But doing that like 5 times during a show...? That mixed in with the political stuff, there was a lot of filler. They could have used that time to play another song or 2.
Posted by Anonymous | November 7, 2008 4:15 PM
more photos/songs here:
http://volume-knob.blogspot.com/2008/11/decemberists-terminal-5-nyc-11508.html
Posted by jess | November 7, 2008 4:19 PM
their last maxwell's show was in fall 2004 i think
Posted by Anonymous | November 7, 2008 6:22 PM
For me the highlight was Meloy noticing how uptight and stiff the crowd was (hard to miss...). He then commented that you can faint from locking your knees, at which point he taught the assembled, stiff horde on the finer points of moving to the beat of the music. Whoa, loosen up people. This is good clean fun.
Posted by Anonymous | November 7, 2008 8:13 PM
that drummer for the decemberists can really pound the kettles. made lots of fans during his pollard gig recently.
Posted by Anonymous | November 7, 2008 9:40 PM
"I guess the days of playing Maxwell's are over?!"
They've already headlined Summerstage and played Webster Hall multiple times.
Colin individually headlined Town Hall.
Also, they never played Terminal 5 before, but they scheduled two nights there when they cancelled that tour.
Posted by Anonymous | November 8, 2008 10:53 AM
Totally worth the wait of the two cancelled shows last year!!! Awesomeness!
Posted by Shannon | November 8, 2008 11:50 AM
Do they always talk that much between songs? Wednesday was my first time seeing them live and they were fun and playing great and all, but the between song banter became a bit wearing after awhile.
Posted by Anonymous | November 8, 2008 12:57 PM
colin may talk a lot but it is usually pretty entertaining
Posted by Anonymous | November 11, 2008 7:34 AM
why isn't it legit to say their live shows in the
last couple of years were not as good as they used
to be in the bowery ballroom / webster hall days
of 4-5 years ago ?
i'm happy to hear that they are back in form
but i'll leave the grave digging to the many of the obama supporters who would turn on him in about two to four years...
Posted by danidin | November 11, 2008 11:42 AM
The show at Wellmont Theatre was superb. That venue is really nice, with great sight lines throughout. Only problem is you have to drive 17 miles out of the city.
Posted by Anonymous | November 12, 2008 12:17 PM
i see myself! AMAZING SHOW
Posted by Anonymous | December 7, 2008 7:44 PM
They sounded pretty good and all, but I'd rather have them play 4 or 5 more songs instead of listening to Meloy's banter after EVERY song. I can't stand it, especially from him, being that he's not really that funny/interesting to listen to. I'm not saying he should ignore the crowd, but he seriously hammed it up after EVERY SINGLE SONG.
Posted by Christ | January 30, 2009 12:25 PM