Review: The Decemberists @ The Pabst

Set List: California One/Youth And Beauty Brigade, The Island-Come & See/The Landlord’s Daughter/You’ll Not Feel The Drowning, Yankee Bayonet (I Will Be Home Then), The Bachelor And The Bride, Myla, The Crane Wife 1 and 2, O Valencia!, The Legionnaire’s Lament, The Perfect Crime #2, When The War Came, Sons and Daughters
Encore: The Mariner’s Revenge Song

I’ve held a grudge against the Decemberists for some time since I caught them at the Barrymore Theatre a few years ago. Looking back it was really no fault of their own, it was more that opening act, Okkervil River completely blew me away leaving any band to take the stage after to have to fight pretty strong to keep my attention, and, on that night, the Decemberists failed.

Fast forward to late last year when The Decemberists, now on a major label, released The Crane Wife which would turn out to be a giant leap in mending my previous reservations about the group. That’s not to conclude there weren’t enjoyable moments from their previous work, particularly Castaways and Cutouts which I still believe to be their best recorded work.

Let’s cut to last night’s performance at the Pabst Theater in Milwaukee. The evening began with a packed theater enjoying a solid and very impressive performance by My Brightest Diamond, which included a rocking rendition of Led Zeppelin’s “No Quarter” that I would absolutely love to get a copy of. We’ve been big fans of Shara Worden and her My Brightest Diamond performance moniker, and you can really tell she has found herself on stage. This show was multitudes better than the previous time we saw her open for Sufjan at the same venue – and we thought that show was great. The crowd adored her songs, she’ll do just fine on a headlining tour sometime in the future.

Obviously, the draw of the evening was The Decemberists, who were playing the Pabst for the very first time. Colin Meloy commented on several occasions about his admiration for the venue, the city of Milwaukee, and his concern for the high balcony seated attendee’s, the latter more out of jest than apprehension. They drew heavily from The Crane Wife, but did justice in incorporating their back catalogue into the set list as well. Highlights included bringing out Shara Worden for guest vocals on “Yankee Bayonet” followed later by a goose bump and tear inducing call to attention to that day’s tragedy at Virginia Tech University during “Sons & Daughters.” As the entire audience, in unison, sang the refrain, “here all the bombs fade away,” you could actually feel like you were part of something greater.

In typical Decemberists fashion they returned for their signature encore performance of the epic and acted out “The Mariner’s Revenge Song,” which proved to be exponentially more enjoyable than the last time I remember. Overall, the band demonstrated its capabilities of playing a flawless set, while holding the crowd gently within their hands for the duration of their two hour performance. After a two night stint in Chicago, they return to Wisconsin on Friday for a performance at the Orpheum Theatre. The show is sold out, but I highly recommend you try and find a way into that show.

Have I been won over? I guess the answer to that is yes, I requested their friendship on myspace and I hope they can forgive me for being overly critical in the past.

Myspace: The Decemberists
Myspace: My Brightest Diamond
MP3: My Brightest Diamond – Golden Star (Remix by Alias)
MP3: My Brightest Diamond – Freak Out (Gold Chains Panique Mix)
Related: 5 Questions w/My Brightest Diamond