ENTERTAINMENT
Modest Mouse in Concert
Reviewed by Mariah, age 16, Minnesota
Sweet Designs Staff Intern
Sweet Designs Featured Writer
Modest Mouse is a fairly indie alternative/garage rock band that hasn't really hit the mainstream yet. They're from Seattle and they started banding together back in '93. Their most widely known songs right now are "Dashboard" and "Float On" (which is featured in Guitar Hero). Modest Mouse sounds like a mix between the Cribs, Counting Crows, the Shins, the Smiths, and the Flaming Lips. Their songs can get pretty angsty and they have the same grit to their songs that Nirvana achieved in the '90's.
Modest Mouse was signed by Sony's Epic Records in 2000 and has since become one of the most popular indie bands to hit the mainstream (ironic, yes). Modest Mouse has sold over 3 million records, which include "This is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About" (1996), "The Lonesome Crowded West" (1997), "The Moon & Antarctica" (2000 - this album went Gold and Platinum), "Good News for People Who Love Bad News" (2004 - this one also went Gold and Platinum), and "We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank" (2007).
'Nuff said. I went to the concert last night in Fargo, North Dakota at the Hub, and Modest Mouse was AWESOME! The sound quality wasn't the greatest when they first took the stage though, but that was the venue's fault. Modest Mouse started off with two heavy (as in very loud and angsty) songs that rang my eardrums solid (too loud for my liking), then they played about ten more songs that had a lighter (yet still angsty) feel to them. Modest Mouse had an eclectic sound that was made possible by a banjo, a few trumpets, a keyboard, and your basic band gear (vocalist, bass, electric and acoustic geetar [sic], and the drums). They played it up a bit, and I enjoyed the variety of their sound. When my ears couldn't take the thrashing sound of their heavier songs, I was awed by their lighter, more melodic masterpieces.
Their opening act, The Radar Brothers, sounded like a mix between Counting Crows and R.E.M. I had never heard of them before, but they sounded pretty tight. They came here all the way from southern California, and they were joking about how they were afraid of tornadoes, but not afraid of earthquakes. (A tornado swept through the outskirts of Fargo that night)
Unfortunately, I missed "Float On" and "Wild Pack of Family Dogs" in Modest Mouse's encore. I had to leave right when they hit the stage for their encore because this freaky 20-something kept trying to hit on me and it was creeping me the heck out. I regret leaving and not yelling at him so I could have stayed for their encore. Otherwise, I would have given the concert a better review!
I give the Modest Mouse concert 4 out of 5 stars. My deduction is based on the venue's bad sound quality and that creepy guy I met at the concert. I still love the band and I won't dock Modest Mouse another star due to their heavier, louder songs that singed my eardrums. (That is a matter of my musical taste, and the rest of the crowd seemed to enjoy the riot of sound.)
You can check out Modest Mouse and their music at:
http://www.modestmousemusic.com
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