Modest Mouse/The National Reviewed

The wife and I are currently taking our second to last class in getting our master's degrees. By August, we'll be done! Our master's degrees will be in "Curriculum and Instruction with an Emphasis on Teaching Through the Arts." Its been a great 18 month journey so far and we've learned some awesome things in teaching students through poetry, storytelling, movement, visual arts, and other art forms.

Our current class is called "Arts and Culture in the Community" and the assignments for this classes are arts based (rather than writing tons of papers). Today, I just finished the two assignments for this class which are due Friday night. For the first one, I did a painting representing the progression of the band mewithoutYou's three albums. I separated my canvas (a piece of wood) intro three sections and attempted to capture the mood and atmosphere of each album in each of the three sections. I think it came out pretty cool, thought admittedly, it looks a little amateurish.

For the second assignment, I had to write a review on an arts event that I attended. I choose the Modest Mouse/The National concert. You can find my review below. I hope you enjoy.

On Sunday, I rode my bike down to the Les Schwab Amphitheater for one of their Wells Fargo Summer Concert Series. The Summer Concert Series is a group of summer concerts featuring some amazing artists and bands. This particular night featured two of my favorite musical acts: Modest Mouse, from Seattle, Washington, and The National, from Brooklyn, New York. I was really excited about this event because I have been listening to (and inspired by) both bands for quite sometime. However, this was my first opportunity to see these bands perform live.
The night started with an opening band called The Breeders, but I was late to the event and didn’t get a chance to see them. Following The Breeders was the dark-pop group called The National. The band was composed of six musicians total; two playing electric guitars, one lead singer, one drummer, one bassist, and one keyboard/violinist. Most of the members shared backup singing duties.
The band opened with one of their darkest numbers entitled “Mistaken for Strangers” which finds the singer lamenting “You get mistaken for strangers by your own friends/ when you pass them at night under the silvery Citibank lights.” It’s a sad, emotional song and you could literally feel the emotion the band put forth in their performance. All six members of the band commanded the stage with sincere stage presence, while not distracting from the music that was being pounded from the speakers. As the band continued through the set, they created an atmosphere of lamentation and remorse (that their songs call for) while still enjoying themselves and entertaining the concert goers.
Following The National, were headliners Modest Mouse. Modest Mouse is also a six-piece band that is lead by the guitar/banjo playing lead singer Isaac Brock. In addition to Brock, the band features an electric guitar player (Johnny Marr of The Smiths fame), an electric and acoustic bass player, a keyboard and trumpeter, and two (!) drummers. As the band first entered the stage, you could not help but be in awe of Brock, who came flying on the stage hammering out a banjo riff amidst heavy music created by the other musicians on the song “Satin in a Coffin.” Being so mesmerized by the energy Brock entered the stage with, not to mention the fact that a rock and roll band was using a banjo, I almost missed the amazing fact the bass player was playing an upright bass with a bow, there were two drummers, and the keyboard player was playing a trumpet. You could tell that this wasn’t your average rock band and that Brock and company wasn’t afraid to push the creative envelope. The song was much heavier and intense than the recorded version, which is a perfect example of the type of show Modest Mouse was about to put on for the next hour and a half: intense, heavy, and creative.
The night’s concert was nothing short of amazing. I never cease to be surprised by artists who are willing to try the unusual. Both bands aren’t satisfied with cookie-cutter rock music; instead they each (in their own and distinctive way) flex their creative muscles by trying new things and performing with conviction. It is a breath of fresh air.