The Decemberists Fall '06 tourzine

Vancouver Shows Rescheduled

Due to Colin's sickness the Vancouver, BC shows have been rescheduled to Dec 13th & 14th.

In House On Missoula

In House trekked over 300 miles to catch the Missoula, MT show!

...Growing up in Helena, Montana, Decemberists frontman Colin Meloy took refuge in that community's Grandstreet Theatre-- no doubt an occupational training ground for the thespian leanings of the band's current stage show. It was something of a full circle made then when Meloy remarked to the sold-out audience in Missoula's venerable Wilma Theatre that the backstage area wore the grit and graffiti of an underground punk club, although closer observation revealed that the scrawled walls bore inscriptions more along the lines of, "Cinderella 2001- Becky Was Here," or "Brigadoon '99!" The scene could hardly have been more fitting. This was Meloy returning to his college stomping grounds, returning to the town where he'd fronted the short-lived, country-tinged Tarkio while attending the University of Montana in the late '90's.

"The Engine Driver," and "Apology Song," were all met with rapturous applause, the latter of which receiving the most when it referenced the Orange Street Food Farm, a local Missoula grocery popular with students for beer and other such supplies. That wouldn't be the only Missoulian allusion of the night, as Meloy began the encore with solo rendition of Tarkio's "Save Yourself"...

Perfect Porridge On Minneapolis

Perfect Porridge has the scoop on the Minneapolis, MN show:

...“I’m sorry, but I’m feeling under the weather tonight,” said group frontman slash lyrical genius Colin Meloy before launching into the “Crane Wife 1 & 2,” the title track from the group’s fourth full length album.

Then after wrapping the song, as if on cue, Meloy mysteriously runs offstage, leaving drummer John Moen onstage to lead the crowd in an impromptu version of “You Are My Sunshine” as we imagine the adjectives Meloy must know for the word vomit (retch, eructate, disgorge, etc.).

But like a true performer, Meloy was brusquely back on stage to knock down crowd favorites from Her Majesty and Castaways and Cutouts. My favorite song of the evening was assuredly, "The Island-Come & See/The Landlord’s Daughter/You’ll Not Feel The Drowning” – a 12.5 minute Jethro Tullified indie masterpiece, and shining example that major labeldom hasn’t incurred wrath by bayonet upon the bespectacled bunch...

Music For Kids Who Can't Read Good On Chicago

Music For Kids Who Can't Read Good has all the details on the Chicago, IL show:

...The band members are all multi-instrumentalists and they were each incredibly tight, whether playing organ, violin, or hurdy-gurdy, but during the whole show the spotlight never leaves Colin Meloy. With his pinstriped jacket and loose Regis Philbin style tie, he acts like the song conductor, invoking a mass-sing-a-long everytime he opens his mouth. By the time set highlight, Crane Wife 1 & 2 begins, Colin shows a huge flair for showmanship stumbling across the stage and raising the tear-shaped guitar high above his head as he strums. Yankee Bayonet featured the most recent Decemberists addition, Lisa Molinaro who harmonized beautifully during the song...

Colin On Colin

Thanks to FILTER rep Billy Briggs for snapping this photo after the Minneapolis show.

Tha Bomb Shelter On Columbus, OH

Tha Bomb Shelter has the lowdown on the Columbus, OH show:

...When they launched into a fast version of "The Perfect Crime 2" the crowd went nuts. When Colin started the dance contest, it got even crazier. The circles formed on the left and in the center, and when he pointed to those of us in the right section, we were told to mosh, and surprisingly, everyone did, much to the dismay of many concertgoers in my vicinity. Thanks to my concert experiences in the salad days of my youth, I was able to hold up in the impromptu pit, but there were many many pissed off people around me. By the end of the huge surf guitar solo, there had even been bloodshed (I even have the graphic photographic evidence!)...

Filter On Pontiac, MI

  
Filter's Peggah Ghoreishi has all the goods on the Pontiac, MI show:

...To “end” their set, they played “Sons and Daughters”. Alasdair Roberts, a nd his band, accompanied The Decemberists on the stage to sing, “Here all the bombs fade away”, which Colin described as, “the sentiment that I hope you take away after this Election Day”. As everyone sang along, peace seemed possible. It was a perfect ending to a concert on such an important day...

Chromewaves On Toronto

Chromewaves has the full rundown of the Toronto, ON show:

...But as excellent and essential as the supporting cast are, the star of The Decemberists is unquestionably Colin Meloy and everyone knows it. Probably the unlikeliest-looking guy to make the girls in the front row scream, Meloy was in top form both as performer and as puppet-master. Whether inciting impromptu audience dance contests, leading singalongs or splitting the crowd in half and getting each side to jeer at the other during "16 Military Wives" in some sort of metaphor for the political state of America, everyone was just another player in Meloy's little comedies...

He's also got a ton of great pictures for us!

Midnight Poutine On Montreal

Midnight Poutine has all the details from the Montreal, QC show:

...as The Decemberists played I found myself enjoying them more with each song. They are all multi-instrumentalists, which I didn’t realize, and the band is crazy tight. The stage was laden with vintage instruments, and decorated with paper lamps and a silk backdrop, building on the theme of their latest release The Crane Wife. At any given time there could be two violins and a bowed bass, a banjo and strange Indian drone instrument, guitars, glockenspiels and organs, or 4 part harmonies. What struck me most was that they displayed a vibrancy at odds with their recordings, watching each other for changes, conscious of their interplay – and that they have a willingness to allow space for each other and the song. The greatest reaction from the crowd was to material from Picaresque and The Crane Wife, which often brought an absolute rapture from the packed house. “O Valencia”, for example, had people waving their hands in the air in that like-I-just-don’t-care manner...

Clicky Click On Boston

Clicky Click has the full rundown on the Boston, MA show:

...The charismatic Meloy alternately regaled and thrilled the crowd with the back story to "A Cautionary Tale" and by staging a ridiculous and impromptu, although dubiously accurate (a meteorite killed the redcoats?), re-enactment of The Boston Massacre in one of the aisles with the help of drummer John Moen, guitarist Chris Funk and supporting multi-instrumentalist Lisa Molinaro. The back story to "A Cautionary Tale?" It so happens Meloy once dated a woman who lived in Boston, and when he visited her here she sent him out for a somewhat miserable inspection of all the tourist spots with her mother, who took a stack of snapshots that Meloy still wonders what to do with today...