The Mountain Goats / Holy Ones

Ignatius Feb 23, 2019

Holy Ones can play a guitar like nobodies business. And he had a way of telling stories between songs, very cool guy. I was just bothered that his guitar was excessively distorted. A lot of tone was lost and I just wanted it back because his technique was so smooth :(

Now Mountain Goats... Wow. I admittedly keep their music on the back burner in general but seeing them play is pretty special. While I don't listen to much from All Hail West Texas, it's incredible to be surrounded by so many people singing every word of Color In Your Cheeks. It was a very indulgent setlist tonight: TWENTY SIX SONGS! TEN SONG ENCORE! I've become complacent with headlining bands playing about 16 songs or less, 26 songs that get louder and more emotionally taxing throughout, (with Rain In Soho and In The Craters On The Moon at the beginning no less) I just don't know how they pulled it off but they did.

The songs from Goths were fantastic, and the way he introduced them, like Shelved, Unicorn Tolerance, and Wear Black, with classic Darnielle wit. I love that he's known how to write "gollum" in elvish runes since middle school.

It was my first time seeing In The Craters On The Moon, (with Matt Douglas' hypnotic sax!) Broom People, See America Right, and You Were Cool live.

Second time seeing Up The Wolves, (with the line "there's gonna come a day when you feel better, I promise you that") Game Shows Touch Our Lives, This Year, Best Ever Death Metal Band In Denton, and Heel Turn 2. (this time with a full band extended outro, holy crap!) So many great songs in one night. It's about time I heard In The Craters On The Moon myself, I don't know what it is about that song, the Bottom of the Hill recording from 2008 just gets me every time, so I think being in that moment was the best experience of my Mountain Goats fandom.