As it goes playing through my head, the soundtrack of the night:
My Morning Jacket was simply amazing. Gushing to happen in 5...4...3...
1) Matt & Kim
Ok, so we're still going in order of shows seen. Another show I was looking forward to very much. I've enjoyed their music, rather tongue in cheek as it is, for awhile. Something about hearing their album made me think they would be a fun live band. And that instinct was dead on. They mixed some very interesting pop rip offs with their outstanding music. Such as Biz Markie's Just A Friend (and the video is hilarious; highly recommend watching it and wondering how it ever became popular) or Europe's Final Countdown. But definitely worth checking out are their own songs such as Northeast and Daylight.
2) The Decemberists
This is the third time I've seen The Decemberists live, #2 being back in April of this year. I always enjoy their shows because I love their music. Unfortunately, they were sans their normal keyboardist and accordionist, Jenny Conlee, who is fighting breast cancer. Special thoughts for a wonderful musician as she fights this. But they were still wonderful. I'm a particularly big fan of The Hazards Of Love album, especially when they get to rocking out. The Rake's Song and The Queen's Rebuke have a special place for me. The Queen's Rebuke is awesome to me, especially live, when song sultry vixen starts vocalizing that blues-y sauciness. On a separate note, Shara Worden is the singer on the album version of The Hazards Of Love, and her band, My Brightest Diamond is solid as well.
3) My Morning Jacket
I've been a fan, but they were honestly not on my "must-see" list. By the end of the first song, I was completely dumbfounded as to why they were not at the very top of the list. Victory Dance was amazing (and this video link is actually from probably just about 20 feet in front of where I was standing). Amazing is the word. There are few others to describe how outstanding their set was. Jim James is a true rock star. Hopefully you can see the white fur Ugg boots he's wearing. This was another show where I periodically turned to my friends and was simply speechless as to how amazing it was. They played some stuff I'd never heard before, as well as some of my favorites, such as Off The Record. My favorite moment was definitely when the Preservation Hall Jazz Band came on stage for a couple licks, including the phenomenal rendition of Highly Suspicious. I was ecstatic. This was by far, without comparison, incomparably, without a doubt, decidedly the best live show I've ever seen in my life. Period.
4) Arcade Fire (the must-see for DAY TWO)
So there was only about one band that in my mind could have followed My Morning Jacket effectively. And that band was my "must-see" for DAY TWO, Arcade Fire. This was yet another show I had been anticipating with baited breath. They did not disappoint. They are outstanding live. The band obviously just flat-out has fun playing their music. There's no sense of pretension or haughtiness to their performance and they are there to entertain and provide a wonderful concert experience, something they definitely deliver. I've thoroughly enjoyed all their albums, but hearing some favorites live was just icing on a delicious musical cake. Rococo and Intervention were great to hear. And then they ended the set with Rebellion (Lies), which meant death and heaven. That is, until the encore of Wake Up and Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains). Fork stuck in me. Done.
5) Ratatat
One of the few bands I was willing to stay up late to see. They went on at 2:30 and did a 90-minute set. And it was so worth it. It was my late night show, but truly outstanding. They put up rear projectors to shine onto fiberglass sheets and projected videos to accompany their music. Thoroughly enjoyed such great ones as Wildcat and Gettysburg. But the awesome part was when they returned for the encore, hearing those first strains of Seventeen Years come in. "I've been rapping for about seventeen years..." and the tent goes straight-up berserk at 3:50 am.
Tomorrow, I'll sleep. Today, we rock.
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