Superchunk, The Mountain Goats, and The Ponys. June 20th, 2007 at the Metro in Chicago, IL.
Wednesday night was the Eff Cancer (that's "fuck cancer") benefit at the Metro, featuring Superchunk, The Mountain Goats, and The Ponys. The fundraiser was organized for long-time Superchunk fan Sean Silver, who suffered from chordoma. Unfortunately, Sean passed before the concert took place. But, the Metro was sold out, and everyone had a good time in his honor. Perhaps too much of a good time, though. What I mean by that is that the crowd was rude as hell. Perhaps the rudest crowd I've ever seen at a show. My guess is a lot of people there were friends and family of people who knew Sean, and thus they didn't care about the music at all. The latter half of that statement was true for sure, however, because the crowd was incredibly loud and talkative. You couldn't tell during The Ponys' set, since they play loud garage-rock, but it was sadly apparent during The Mountain Goats' set. Whenever they toned it down and played a quiet song, you could hardly even hear the music due to the roaring from the back of the Metro near the bar and upstairs. The crowd that was on the main floor wasn't making any noise, but unfortunately the folks in the back didn't give a shit. Before one song, John Darnielle commented "I hate guys with acoustic guitars who ask big rooms of people to be quiet. Really I do! But at the same time -- Sean, who this benefit was organized for, passed before tonight, and I wanted to play a song I wrote for a friend of mine who died. It took me a while before I could play it to crowds..." (paraphrased) And still, the back of the room roared. So disrespectful. In the middle of the song, as John realized that there was no hope for silence, he walked to the edge of the stage and sang without a microphone, making the performance as intimate as he could due to the talking, which I thought was pretty cool. I hope someday I get to see The Mountain Goats play when the crowd is just for them, and people shut the fuck up and listen to the music. (Man, that really makes me angry, in case you can't tell.)
Aside from the crowd, The Mountain Goats' set was great. John plays with such emotion and character live, and I love it. He really puts himself in his lyrics, and the passion is great. He also prefaced a lot of the songs with some anecdote, telling us what the song was about, usually with humour. For instance, before playing "Slow West Vultures", John noted, "It's great to be young. And in love. With cocaine. This song is for people who are tyoung and in love. With that type of suff." Also, it was really clear that the three members of the band (which also included drums and bass) were having a great time. They kept smiling throughout the night, happy to be playing to the receptive crowd in the front. And we were happy to listen to them.
Photos and video below.
The Mountain Goats - This Year
The Mountain Goats - Get Lonely (from Get Lonely)
The Mountain Goats - This Year (from The Sunset Tree)
Wednesday night was the Eff Cancer (that's "fuck cancer") benefit at the Metro, featuring Superchunk, The Mountain Goats, and The Ponys. The fundraiser was organized for long-time Superchunk fan Sean Silver, who suffered from chordoma. Unfortunately, Sean passed before the concert took place. But, the Metro was sold out, and everyone had a good time in his honor. Perhaps too much of a good time, though. What I mean by that is that the crowd was rude as hell. Perhaps the rudest crowd I've ever seen at a show. My guess is a lot of people there were friends and family of people who knew Sean, and thus they didn't care about the music at all. The latter half of that statement was true for sure, however, because the crowd was incredibly loud and talkative. You couldn't tell during The Ponys' set, since they play loud garage-rock, but it was sadly apparent during The Mountain Goats' set. Whenever they toned it down and played a quiet song, you could hardly even hear the music due to the roaring from the back of the Metro near the bar and upstairs. The crowd that was on the main floor wasn't making any noise, but unfortunately the folks in the back didn't give a shit. Before one song, John Darnielle commented "I hate guys with acoustic guitars who ask big rooms of people to be quiet. Really I do! But at the same time -- Sean, who this benefit was organized for, passed before tonight, and I wanted to play a song I wrote for a friend of mine who died. It took me a while before I could play it to crowds..." (paraphrased) And still, the back of the room roared. So disrespectful. In the middle of the song, as John realized that there was no hope for silence, he walked to the edge of the stage and sang without a microphone, making the performance as intimate as he could due to the talking, which I thought was pretty cool. I hope someday I get to see The Mountain Goats play when the crowd is just for them, and people shut the fuck up and listen to the music. (Man, that really makes me angry, in case you can't tell.)Aside from the crowd, The Mountain Goats' set was great. John plays with such emotion and character live, and I love it. He really puts himself in his lyrics, and the passion is great. He also prefaced a lot of the songs with some anecdote, telling us what the song was about, usually with humour. For instance, before playing "Slow West Vultures", John noted, "It's great to be young. And in love. With cocaine. This song is for people who are tyoung and in love. With that type of suff." Also, it was really clear that the three members of the band (which also included drums and bass) were having a great time. They kept smiling throughout the night, happy to be playing to the receptive crowd in the front. And we were happy to listen to them.
Photos and video below.
The Mountain Goats - This Year
The Mountain Goats - Get Lonely (from Get Lonely)
The Mountain Goats - This Year (from The Sunset Tree)
Labels: Show Reviews
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