The all ages
show at The Wonder Ballroom on the shivery Wednesday night of November 11th in
Portland, embraced the youth.The
venue has Verizon text messaging screens where the attendees could text away in
amusement for all to see. For the
underage, this was a comparable substitution for alcohol.For one twelve-year-old, this was her
first rock concert.The majority
of the visible crowd looked as if they learned how to utter their first
coherent word back when John Darnielle begin performing his songs as The
Mountain Goats in 1991.By the end
of the night, it was clear that age had nothing to do with the state of
youthfulness.
Final Fantasy,
the alias for violinist Owen Pallet, seemed an unlikely opener if one did not
know that The Mountain Goats' latest album: The Life Of The World To Come (QRO review), featured Pallet's string
arrangements.The 30-year-old
Canadian looked as if he found a youth potion ten years ago.Named after the famous video game
series, Final Fantasy, the singer/songwriter composes equally epic music that
is "flamingly gay", as he proclaimed in an interview with Time Out.Pallet has a voice of what you'd imagine to be that of a baroque angel
choir; accompanied by his violin played into a loop pedal, he'd have you
believe you're flying through the pastel clouds on the back of a Pegasus.All the girls and boys watched their
magician/musician in adoration, as if he had cast some spell.The audience wanted to give him a big
hug and it was easy to see why.But this pretty boy is just not pretty on the outside.
In 2006, Pallet
won the first annual Polaris Music Prize - a music award with C$20,000 cash
prize for the best Canadian album, based solely on artistic merit.Uncomfortable with the award's sponsor,
Pallet used the money to help out his favorite bands in need.When a song from Final Fantasy's debut
album, Has a Good Home, was
used in a commercial without his authorization, Pallet donated all the profit
to Doctors Without Borders - a humanitarian-aid organization working in
war-torn regions and developing countries.This past summer during Hillside Festivalat Guelph Lake in Canada (QRO Festival
GuideQRO review), a thunderstorm
descended on the stage for a duel with Pallet as he performed "Lewis Takes Off
His Shirt" from his forthcoming album, Heartland.The YouTube video clip shows the stage crew frantically shutting down
operation and repeatedly asking Pallet to pull the plug but he continues to
sing "...I'm never going to give it to you..." while wielding his bow like a sword.
On this night,
Final Fantasy did not have to put on his warrior guise.Everything ran smoothly and on
schedule, with help from his accompanist who played the guitar most of time but
occasionally handled the percussion and provided backing vocals.Pallet effortlessly oscillated between
his violin and Korg keyboard, all the while making sure the computer was doing
its looping duty.The most
excitement came when Pallet took off his top layer, briefly revealing his
finely sculpted abs.The girls
hopelessly savored the moment.
Not sure how
many of Darnielle's friends from his days as a Portlander showed up, but when
he entered the stage, the crowd cheered as if their hometown hero had returned
on this Veteran's Day.But unlike
his no-frills adoring audience, Darnielle and his band were dressed up in
blazers & suits as if they were appearing on some late night TV show (QRO
Indie on Late Night TVQRO review).Bassist Peter Hughes probably would win
the best-dressed award of the night if Entertainment Tonight were here to cover the show.The silky pinstriped suit perfectly
packaged the lanky Hughes, who occasionally emerged from the dark, left of the
stage, to let the crowd know the mutual pleasure of this rendezvous.Hidden from his drum set, Jon Wurster's
face surfaced when he'd hit the cymbals.The guitarist, who must be a new addition to the band for touring
purpose, stood on the far right side of the stage, accepting his supporting
role for the linchpin of The Mountain Goats, John Darnielle.
Considered by
several critics as one of the best songwriters, Darnielle prioritizes lyrics
over music.He is essentially a
storyteller and the audience seemed more interested in what he had to say than
how the music affected them.Unlike some songwriters, like Steve Kilbey of The Church, who loathes
explaining his lyrics, Darnielle serves them up on a silver platter, usually
with a side of humor.For "Thank
You Mario, But Our Princess Is In Another Castle", Darnielle introduced it as a
song about a little fellow who goes on a mission to save his princess by
defeating the evil dragon but he ended up saving a friend who he didn't even
know was missing.And so on.Before each song, Darnielle tickled the
crowd.
The Mountain Goats playing "This Year" live at Wonder Ballroom in Portland, OR on November 11th, 2009:
Almost mid-way
through the set, after rocking as much as the folk-tinged rock band could,
Darnielle's support cleared the stage for the Darnielle-Pallet show.The first guest of the night was a new
song about Portland, "Steel Smoked Fish", a recollection of Darnielle's short
residency.Portlanders loved hearing
anything and everything the storyteller had to say about their beloved city.
One of the
highlights of the show came from 1994's Zopilote
MachineLP: "Going to Bristol".The
lo-fi recording was transformed into an uplifting dance number when Pallet's violin
replaced the original guitar composition.Darnielle responded, "I am not afraid to dance in this town" when
a young man shouted, "Shake
it!"He bounced around and swung
his hips, singing nasally to the melody of Pallet's violin.The crowd cheered and screamed as if
everyone was all on same drugs, experiencing the same euphoria.
For encore, The
Mountain Goats thundered for "Psalms 40:2", preceded by Darnielle's
explanation: "Couple of guys get on Interstate 35 - don't know where they are
going but I know what they do...It's awesome if you have no morals."
The animated
singer announced that they only have one more because his voice was dying.He closed with "Love, Love, Love",
which seemed a fitting summary of the night and parting gift to his audience.
The set lasted
about 80 minutes, including Darnielle‘s stage banters that probably added up to
at least ten.18 songs were
plucked from The Mountain Goats' catalogue of 17 albums and numerous
singles/EP.Five of the songs were
from their latest albums, which are all named after Biblical passages.But enough has been written about songs
that are more famous for their titles than the actual content.If some people thought that Darnielle
was having a mid-life crisis about the meaning of life and all the baggage that
comes with it, he certainly proved them wrong.Darnielle confidently accepted his role as the chosen leader
by the Wonder Ballroom crowd to lead them to an evolution of honest songs
without limits.But then this is
an observation from someone who couldn't name one song by The Mountain Goats
before the concert.
The Mountain Goats playing "Hebrey 11:40" live at Wonder Ballroom in Portland, OR on November 11th, 2009:
In 2006, Pallet
won the first annual Polaris Music Prize - a music award with C$20,000 cash
prize for the best Canadian album, based solely on artistic merit.
they were appearing on some late night TV show (
Considered by
several critics as one of the best songwriters, Darnielle prioritizes lyrics
over music.
Almost mid-way
through the set, after rocking as much as the folk-tinged rock band could,
Darnielle's support cleared the stage for the Darnielle-Pallet show.
The set lasted
about 80 minutes, including Darnielle‘s stage banters that probably added up to
at least ten.
The Rural Alberta Advantage continues Canada's impressive alt-legacy.
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