Modest Mouse ~ Saint Augustine, Florida ~ 7/17/2015
Robbey Pye
Modest Mouse, St. Augustine, 7/17/2015
As I pulled up to the Modest Mouse concert last Friday, I was a bit anxious about how the night would turn out considering the pouring rain. Fortunately, it cleared up rather quickly and set Modest Mouse up to perform an awesome show. The set list was solid, which I will discuss further later. Applause to the St. Augustine Amphitheatre staff; everyone was great from the security to the box office, etc. Everything seemed controlled, well-managed, and I had absolutely no issues getting to where I needed to be. Due to the staff doing a fantastic job, Modest Mouse was able to do what they do, sing some exciting jams! I was especially impressed by the variety of their band. It was very cool to see the violin and the horn get some action, which put a nice little jam band spin on some indie rock.
The night started off with an absolute classic with some stunning live-action violin. I was a big fan of the opener; it was the perfect slower song, for Modest Mouse, which allowed him to lead straight into their new upbeat hit, “Lampshades on Fire.” I was impressed with the selections from their new album, which consisted of six out of nineteen songs. “Lampshades on Fire” and “The Ground Walks, With Time in a Box” were pretty much a given out of those six, considering their recent rapid success. I am personally a big fan of “Coyotes” and “Pups to Dust,” so it was a pleasure for those to be two of the other four. “Dashboard” and “Float On” are their top two most-played songs on this Strangers to Ourselves tour, so those were expected. On the other end of that, we landed one of five “Parting of the Sensory”s, which is one of my all-time favorites from Modest Mouse and has a phenomenal violin solo in it. The show ended a little bit earlier than I expected, but the end was still very solid. “Shit in Your Cut” is an awesome encore from the new album, combined with a few classics from each of their other three more popular albums.
Upon their return to America, this was the first show for the band, which made it seem a little bit tight-knit. Although the show was an incredible time all-around, I would have like to see just a little more jamming out in between tracks. This is understandable considering they would have to hit the road for back-to-back shows the next two nights in Alabama and Kentucky. On the bright side, I would expect the next two nights to be even more exciting than St. Augustine, which is an honestly difficult to imagine. I am thankful for the opportunity by MusicFestNews and was thrilled to see one of my all-time favorite bands perform in historic St. Augustine. I think the only better situation would be catching the end of the leg of their tour in America and see the show in New York on the twenty-second!
1-The World at Large
2- Lampshades on Fire
3-Wicked Campaign
4- Dashboard
5- Night on the Sun
6- Pups to Dust
7- King Rat
8- The Devil’s Workday
9-Tiny Cities Made of Ashes
10- Broke
11- Parting of the Sensory
12- Coyotes
13- Float On
14-The Ground Walks, With Time in a Box
15- Custom Concern
[ENCORE]
16- Shit in Your Cut
17- Fly Trapped in a Jar
18- 3rd Planet
19- The Good Times are Killing Me