Modest Mouse, 9:30 Club, Washington, DC

"I wish I could hit upon a pleasant track of thought, a track indirectly reflecting credit upon myself, for those are the pleasantest thoughts, and very frequent even in the minds of modest, mouse-coloured people, who believe genuinely that they dislike to hear their own praises"

Even though they have not come out with a new album in five years and not even an EP in in three, I’ll never turn down an opportunity to see indie rock gods Modest Mouse. As per their norm, they had a half dozen of them onstage, including a pair of drum kits. Isaac Brook was located on the far right of the stage as per his usual. We heard a good little mix of songs from all their records including a pair of songs from their debut album This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About (1996), and three songs each from the rest of their albums: The Lonesome Crowded West (1997), The Moon & Antarctica (2000), Good News for People Who Love Bad News (2005), and We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank (2007), as well as another pair from their recent most EP No One’s First and You’re Next (2009). They also played a pair of recent unreleased songs and a Bob Dylan cover. I danced; I wiggled; I belted out lyrics. My only gripe is that they came out pretty late, almost 10pm and they took a really long encore break, which was magnified by the heat.

Setlist:

The Whale Song

I Came as a Rat

3rd Planet

Dashboard

King Rat

Heart Cooks Brain

Tiny Cities Made of Ashes

Ansel

Breakthrough

You Ain't Going Nowhere (Bob Dylan cover)

Parting of the Sensory

Black Cadillacs
The World at Large
The View
Encore:
Custom Concern
Lampshades On Fire
Shit Luck
Missed the Boat
Trailer Trash