Modest Mouse's Delay
Xue treats me so well. Her generosity includes, but is not limited to, taking me to see my favorite bands. Last Monday the two of us rode down toward Fenway park to see Modest Mouse play at the Blues Room, or the Blue Heart, or something. The venue is not important.
We got there on time and filtered in along with the rest of the crowd. I guessed there were probably twelve to sixteen hundred people there. The opening band started up soon enough.
Morning Teleportation? Maybe they were Morning Television. Again, the specifics escape me with no great concern. Their first song was good, I really liked it. I even made a mental note to try to pirate some more of their music when I got home, but the rest of the set changed my mind. They weren’t terrible, but they lost their charm quickly and I was glad when they left the stage.
Twenty minutes later Modest Mouse’s techs had finished getting their instruments on stage and in tune. I started getting really excited; I love Modest Mouse! Then we waited, and waited some more.
The instruments just sat there. What were they doing backstage?
There was a full hour of downtime between the opening band leaving the stage and the headliner taking it. Fuck that shit. I know they’re rockstars and there’s a lot of preparation that goes into a big show like that, but c’mon. Start writing your set list an hour earlier next time, assholes.
But I couldn’t stay mad for long. They played lots of hits, and not too many of their newer songs, and it was a good time. It was in fact a very good time.
But don’t get me started on the total crock of shot that is the gratuitous encore paradigm.