Supersweet

Modest Mouse

Shepherd's Bush Empire, London: 14 December 2009

Off-kilter, American College Rock darlings Modest Mouse are midway through a sold out UK tour with Frightened Rabbit (see what they did there?!) and tonight’s date at Shepherd’s Bush Empire is no exception, tickets changing hands outside in the blisteringly cold December night for considerably more than the RRP. Frightened Rabbit having put in a near-epic performance in support, there’s a real sense of expectation in the air by the time the band finally amble onto the stage to the mournful wailing of air raid sirens.

Luckily, Modest Mouse are in fine musical form, kicking off with the abrasive banjo / cello led ‘King Rat’ from their most recent release No One’s First, and You’re Next, a (dare we say it?) compilation album made up of ‘previously unreleased tracks and b-sides’ (read: filler!). Modest main man Isaac Brock plays his banjo like a machine gun as the twin drummers hammer away at their kits on the riser behind him. As the track evolves, we’re given an early chance to appreciate the musical finesse of a band now on their eleventh release (five albums, six EPs) and it’s certainly something to savour. 

Then, as the disco guitar riot of second track ‘Dashboard’ from their 2001 US Billboard number one album draws to a close, Brock makes an unexpected announcement and throws everything into check. He’s lost his voice. “It’s been a magical day..” he croaks with exaggerated fragility, telling us an endearing short story about acupuncture, steroids and a “rock doctor” who was apparently called in to try and sort him out, to no avail. We shouldn’t expect him to hit all the notes, basically. Great, think 2,000 punters who have forked out for a ticket…

From then on there’s a definite feeling that the band are somehow holding back from the performance we’re expecting and, surprisingly, the gig is also marred by crowd violence, members of the beefy Shepherd’s Bush Empire Riot Squad leaping into the crowd on a number of occasions, presumably to eject the offenders. Some hardcore heckling is also resolutely ignored by Brock and co., as are the chants of “Float On, Float On…”  that begin with ever-increasing regularity as the night wears on. At one point Brock tells us they “don’t do requests” because that’s “for babies”. There will be no floating anywhere tonight…

adly, there’s also no Johnny Marr either, but what we do get is some fantastic renditions of the majority of the best songs from Good News… and We Were Dead plus a few golden oldies thrown in for good measure. And, unlike a few of bands SUPERSWEET has seen recently, Modest Mouse’s ability to not only perfectly recreate their complex arrangements live but simultaneously breathe new life into them, as if they were playing them for the first time, really sets them aside from the rest. It’s just a shame that they seemingly held back, presumably for the sake of Isaac Brock’s voice.

Words: Isaac Howlett
Photography: Minh Le