I was so freaking excited for this show, especially since I didn’t even have to leave campus for it, and I left severely disappointed.
The Decemberists played at Wharton Center at MSU (on Nov. 12) for barely an hour, sans opening band, and they sounded great but I think at least 75 percent of the people there left with W-T-F? written across their faces. To start, Colin Meloy came onstage and said, “We’re happy to be here at the University of Michigan,” which would have been funny considering U-M is our rival — until we saw the look of pure horror on his face when the crowd booed. He responded with an “OH SHIT,” and the bassist said, “Man, you haven’t done that in, like, a week!”
And it didn’t help that even after that, he knew he was in East Lansing, but said he couldn’t tell the difference between University of Michigan and … Michigan University. Colin later realized that everyone in the front row was wearing Michigan State University sweaters and figured out where he actually was. The thing is, he totally could have redeemed himself … and didn’t, even though he apologized a bunch of times. Maybe it was because he was embarrassed or mad that he goofed up, but still.
Also, the actual set was only 11 songs (granted, one of them was the 12-and-a-half-minute-long “The Island: Come & See/The Landlord’s Daughter/You’ll Not Feel The Drowning”), and didn’t get to the upbeat stuff till maybe eight songs in. Then the encore was only two songs, both slow, neither of which was “The Mariner’s Revenge,” which they usually play. It was weird because they even brought more instruments on stage before the encore, and didn’t use them.
I really think it was just an off night, because everyone I’ve talked to who has seen them live has said they were great, and when I saw them in Chicago in July ’07 it was great. And that was with an orchestra, in a big pavilion where I could hardly see anything (because I wasn’t very close and the old folks in front of me had their umbrellas up because it was raining…). Ha, and afterward my friends and I got absolutely drenched, enough to look like we jumped in a pool, but that’s another story.
Oh well, I’m going to stop complaining. They’re still a great band, this just wasn’t the best show.
Anyway, here’s the Decemberists’ setlist (from what I know):
“Shanty for the Arethusa”
“July, July!”
“Here I Dreamt I Was An Architect”
“Valerie Plame”
“The Bachelor and the Bride”
“Leslie Anne Levine”
New song
“The Perfect Crime #2”
“The Island: Come & See/The Landlord’s Daughter/You’ll Not Feel The Drowning”
“O Valencia!”
“Sixteen Military Wives”
Encore:
“Angel, Won’t You Call Me?”
New song?
Photos after the jump
