I made what I thought was a pretty obvious decision in not going to the Delta Variant coming out party that was Lollapalooza last week. I did, however, think it would be fine to go to an aftershow with a smaller crowd. It was truly a return to normalcy as I stepped into line and was immediately offered a pull of backpack vodka from a man who appeared to be well into his 50’s and very drunk. After a while one of the security people came over to ask him if he was ok. He somehow convinced them that he was, and they allowed him in to the show. Oh did I mention he wasn’t wearing a mask? I guess I didn’t really need to, since no one else was wearing one either. By my count about 1% of the 1,000 attendees decided to mask up to avoid the spread of Covid, of which I was of course one.

I had never seen Modest Mouse before, though I have listened to them now and again since Lonesome Crowded West. I took a look at the set list from the previous night, and there was enough there that I was familiar with, so I knew it would be fun. They didn’t hit the stage until midnight (already past my bedtime) and played until around 1:30. They hit all the big ones you would expect, played some deep cuts including an abbreviated version of “King Rat.” I was most happy to hear “Missed The Boat,” which was not on the set list from the previous night.

Of course they hit some new stuff to support their album that came out recently. The Golden Casket is good, as you would hope since it’s their first album in six years. They find a nice balance between the accessibility of Good News with the weird stuff from their early albums. I like to equate the style of music that Modest Mouse makes more with jazz than rock and roll. They’ve always got a million things going on, often not really in harmony with one another, but they always find their way back to the melody in the end.

I had a great time seeing live music for the first time in a year and a half, and I hope to do it again in a couple weeks. Looking forward to a more masked crowd at that one, now that venues have started announcing the need for proof of vaccination at the door (post-Lolla, of course).

Here’s the set list for those interested. Interesting that they chose this show to bring back “Convenient Parking,” which according to setlist.fm hadn’t been played live in over 20 years.

Dramamine, Convenient Parking, Missed The Boat, Fuck Your Acid Trip, Lampshades On Fire, Back To The Middle, Float On, Leave A Light On, Wooden Soldiers, Satin In A Coffin, King Rat, We Are Between, We’re Lucky, Cowboy Dan

Encore: Dashboard, The Sun Hasn’t Left, Paper Thin Walls