Modest Mouse
June 6, 2017
Fillmore, Denver, CO
I’ve always drawn a lot of parallels between Modest Mouse and the Pixies and believe that Modest Mouse picked up where the Pixies left off. They both have that one timeless hit that everyone knows-- “Float On” and “Where is My Mind” respectively but both have so much more to offer in their first 5 albums (I consider the Pixies first mini-LP an album) and highly recommend all 10. I bring this up because 2 years ago at RiotFest, I had the opportunity to see them back to back. While the Pixies were great, there was unfortunately something lacking from Modest Mouse. This was not the case at the Fillmore on Tuesday night.
Opening with a song that epitomizes the feeling of I don’t know where I’m going, or what I’m doing, but that’s okay, “The World at Large” is a song that resonates with everyone in some point of his or her life. That song, along with “Float On” off their album “Good News for People Who Love Bad News” (which brought them into the mainstream) make you feel okay with not necessarily knowing your path but understanding you’re certainly not the only one. Their front man Isaac Brock has always been one of my favorite songwriters in his ability to relate people and with his ability to write clever lyrics that hit on hard topics like religion while having a sense of humor shown in songs like “Bukowski” and “Doin’ the Cockroach”.
Most of their tracks were off of the aforementioned “Good News for People Who Love Bad News” and they also threw in “Cowboy Dan” and “Doin’ the Cockroach” off of my favorite album of theirs “The Lonesome Crowded West”. One of these times, I just really want them to open, and close, with “Shit Luck” (also off “Lonesome”) and I’d be extremely happy. They came back on for their encore with “Ocean Breathes Salty” which I really hadn’t heard in a while so was excited to hear and closed with the strange and very Tom Waits influenced “This Devil’s Workday”.
This is my 3rd time seeing Modest Mouse live and was definitely the most impressive. Isaac Brock seemed really engaged and in general the band was cohesive. It changed my opinion on seeing them live as the last couple times they had seemed a bit distant (or hungover). If they were hangover on Tuesday night, they did a good job not showing it and put on a fun show for everyone.
Article By: Christopher Beliveau
