I’ve seen Modest Mouse many times throughout my life, most recently (before this week) when they toured with Brand New a few years back. When they announced that they were playing the Twin Cities I was excited and immediately knew I wanted to cover the show. When I saw that it was at Myth Nightclub I was a little less enthused, simply because my homebody self prefers to travel less than ten minutes to shows at First Avenue or the Triple Rock.
When the day of the show finally came, I left work early and called an Uber to the Myth- and was pleasantly surprised from the moment I arrived. Modest Mouse is a band that people my age were blasting from their iPod Nano’s on the school bus ages ago. So, thankfully, the crowd was mostly made up of denim jacket-clad twenty somethings just ready to hear some good music and drink some beers, just like me.
After acquiring a Surly (duh!) and quickly scanning the merch table for any throwback tees I might recognize from high school, I made my way to the floor. The opening band, Mass Gothic, was just getting started and everyone was starting to get a bit closer and edge their way towards the stage. Mass Gothic is made up of Noel Heroux, formerly of Hooray For Earth, and Jessica Zambri. Their echoey, dark but inviting sound booted through the venue and soon enough, everyone was bobbing their heads along with the beat. I arrived not knowing who they were and left trying to find their music on iTunes, hoping they would come through Minneapolis again sometime soon.
After some stagehand shuffling around on stage, Modest Mouse finally appeared. The floor and balcony had filled up substantially and I was right in the middle of the crowd. They started the set with “Spitting Venom,” off of their their 2007 album “We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank.” All the twenty somethings that I mentioned earlier, including me, came alive and our hopes for a night of nostalgia were confirmed.
Throughout their set they played songs from seven of their albums, really showcasing every moment in their career. They made friendly banter with the crowd but mostly stuck to what really mattered- packing in as many great songs as possible. They finished the first part of their set with “Night on the Sun” and left the stage, but we all knew what was coming. After an obligatory “ONE MORE SONG!” chant from the audience they reentered to play four more songs. The true final song of the evening was “Shit Luck,” a total classic, and the crowd went wild.
After reliving my high school days and belting our hearts out to all the songs I had hoped they would play, I caved and bought a t shirt before getting in my ride home. I silently apologized to the Myth for complaining about its location and promised myself to trust that the show would be worth the drive next time.
