Modest Mouse Tickets?

I just found out my old buddy Tom from Richmond (anyone remember a band called King Sour from there??) has played on the last 2 modest mouse records as the "multi-instrumentalist" or whatever, playing fiddle and other things presumably….not sure he tours with them but i know he does some of the shows.

I've never actually heard Modest Mouse so none of this really matters to me, except that I'm glad my old friend has found this success…..

JonathanEH wrote:

Charlie wrote:
You guys do realize that the general consensus is that Modest Mouse sucks live, right? And that Johnny Marr isn't on the tour…

Just curious, why do people think that?  I've seen them a few times and don't see why it would be common conception that they suck live. 

For example, I know lots of people on this board bitched about the opening set for REM.  Can someone tell me specifically what they didn't like about it.  It seemed fine, but not great, to me.

I wanted to go but missed out on tickets.

From like 1996-1999 I saw them quite a few times and they were just boring as hell live, it seriously sucked.  Didn't live up to their music at all.  So, I stopped going to see them.  I still absolutely loved them and snatched up their records whenever they came out.  It just wasn't worth it to pay to see them live.

Then the REM show came around.  I'd seen REM several times, never dissapointed.  Modest Mouse was opening, so I figured I'd go.  Not to mention i work in Columbia, so it was a short trip.

Anyway.. I'm not sure what it was.. maybe Johnny Maar re-invigorated them or something.  But they had a good amount of energy and it was fun.  Granted.. not the best show ever, but for them.. for what I remembered years ago.. it was phenomenal.

So yeah.. I wanted to see them again in a good venue and see if the magic was still there.  But can also easily see why people think they're no good live.

JonathanEH wrote:
It seemed fine, but not great, to me.

they're un-engaging.  i've never seen them connect with the audience.  first time i saw them, they looked bored.  but most/worse of all is the gulf between their studio work and their live shows.  if i walked in to a random bar and the band on stage was as good as modest mouse, i'd be damn impressed.  knowing what they are capable of, and how little they deliver on stage, makes it worse for them.  it's a question of expectations.

Isaac just sounds like a retarded kid singing.

i've given up on them a couple years ago. Used to see them for $10. EVERY show is a blur to me. It was that bad.

How many bands actually sound better in an outdoor festival setting than in a club setting? That's right, none.

wml7 wrote:
I think they sound better in a club setting as compared to an outdoor festival type.

Ding ding ding…we have a winner!

sweetcheex wrote:
Isaac just sounds like a retarded kid singing.

Thanks, these comments help me understand people's beef with them in a live setting.  I can't say I disagree with the un-engaging part. 

One beef I have had is set length.  On the Good News… tour the headlining show I saw was about 75-80 min, which just seems way too brief for a band with as many records playing that big of a show.  Sort of like Beck's show at the Patriot Center a few years ago.  Both had one-song encores after way too short sets.

I didn't see them at Virgin Fest, but someone told me they ended early there, too, which is pretty sad when you are given a shortened festival set time.  Come to think of it, Beck ended up set at ACL last year about 20 minutes early, too. 

At least you can't call Beck un-engaging. 

One funny Modest Mouse story, I was once with my wife at a restaurant for brunch and someone working there put on Moon and Antarctica as the background music in the restaurant.  I was eagerly awaiting the "anyone can easily fuck you over" refrain in about the third song.  The music got yanked and replaced at that point. 

Charlie wrote:
You guys do realize that the general consensus is that Modest Mouse sucks live, right? And that Johnny Marr isn't on the tour…

BAH! Johnny's just ducking Morrissey since he's in DC that weekend as well    LOL

Charlie wrote:
How many bands actually sound better in an outdoor festival setting than in a club setting? That's right, none.

wml7 wrote:
I think they sound better in a club setting as compared to an outdoor festival type.

Radiohead

I remember seeing Modest Mouse in 1998 and being very underwhelmed by them live.
I also remember seeing Modest Mouse in 2005 and was even more underwhelmed by them live.

wml7 wrote:
Radiohead

oh good one, although we're only seconds  away from a hipster predictably saying "they sound bad everywhere" ::)

and although this is a fringe example, i've heard several electronic acts that sounded way better at an outdoor festival than they did in a club.  to be fair, odds were stacked in favor of the festivals: they were geared towards electronic music so they had specific PAs and technicians who knew how to set up the system, as opposed to using a club's PA which might have been designed with more general purposes in minx.  also, outdoors = no/less echo, no standing waves, don't have to tune the system to the room, etc.

This thread doesn't even rank in the Top 15 all-time scalper/shut out bitch sessions from this board. The jury is out on whether this says more about Modest Mouse or their fans.

Too bad I got shut out as well, but i will be at Rams Head for the Thursday show and will be standing outside of the 930 one hoping someone is selling. 

I'm no saint by any means

but I can tell you that in my 30 years of doing this, I have never sold a single ticket to a scalper, and wouldn't if I though that's what someone was up to

so I don't know where or how these people get tickets, but it ain't from us

I got a pair!

RustyOrgan wrote:
I got a pair!

Please wait here while I fetch my magnifying glass…..

RustyOrgan wrote:
I got a pair!

highly debatable.

Seth wrote:
I'm no saint by any means

It's Lieutenant Hurwitz. Severe shell-shock. Thinks he's Ethel Merman.