October 20, 2006
Decemberists at The Warfield
The Decemberists rocked The Warfield last night, and I was there to enjoy every minute of it. They opened with The Crane Wife 3 and transitioned seamlessly into The Island. The set definitely leaned towards material from The Crane Wife, which was fine with me because that album is fantastic. For the encore they also treated us to a b-side from that album entitled, Culling Of The Fold.
In addition to the excellent tunes, Colin Meloy didn't fail to entertain the crowd in other ways as well. He thanked everyone for coming out tonight, even if it meant walking through The 'Loin. He regaled us with a tale of his walk to the venue that night, which involved him witnessing "the most blatant crack deal he'd ever seen".
Later on in the set Colin reached down into the crowd, mid-song, and got someone's cell phone. He then proceeded to type on it for a while. I assumed he was sending a text message to someone, but after a bit he held the phone up to his ear and then when he started singing again, held it to the microphone. After the song was over, he gave the cell phone back and said "by the way, that was his mom that I called." How great is that?
One last thing I need to add, is that The Warfield is one of my least favorite venues in SF. The main reason being that the sound is typically really bad. However, last night I thought the sound was pretty good, so yay for that.
All in all it was a really fun show. If you've not heard of The Decemberists before, you should definitely check them out and if you have a chance to catch them live, I highly recommend doing so.
A rough set list:
The Crane Wife
- The Crane Wife 3
- The Island: Come & See/The Landlord's Daughter/You'll Not Feel The Drowning
- Yankee Bayonet (I Will Be Home Then)
- O Valencia!
- The Perfect Crime #2
- Shankill Butchers
- Sons and Daughters
- The Crane Wife 1&2
- Culling of the Fold (b-side)
Picaresque
- We Both Go Down Together
- The Engine Drive
- 16 Military Wives
Castaways and Cutouts
- Odalisque
- A Cautionary Song
- The Legionnaire's Lament