Modest Mouse takes the crowd to church at their Sept. 23 Grinders gig

Modest Mouse at Grinders KC on September 23. // Photo by Olivia Steele

Modest Mouse at GrindersKC on September 23. // Photo by Olivia Steele

Modest Mouse
with Robber Robber
Grinders KC
Wednesday, September 23

Truth be told, I have never really kept up with Modest Mouse. I’m a fan of the music and leaped at the opportunity to confirm a seat (or a 1×1 square of mulch to rest my platform Doc Martens on) at their chilly Wednesday show, but I didn’t even know the lead singer’s name until fellow concertgoers screamed, “I love you, Isaac!” Despite this, I crowded as close as I could to the stage, desperately hoping the crowd’s energy would rub off on me.

The Burlington, Vermont band Robber Robber took the stage at 8 p.m., and I quickly became a fan. I loved its gritty, psychedelic, post-punk sound. It sounds like the inevitable dirt under your fingernails after a good night out. It was difficult to make out lyrics in their set, with lead singer Nina Cates opting to sing with the mic pressed to her lips, but they made up for it sonically. She’s melancholic in her performance, in a very alluring way. Her voice makes me feel like I need to be tied to a mast Odysseus-style (funnily enough, they have a song called “Sea or War,” which if Christopher Nolan had been a little more creative…).

“Talkback,” “Dial Tone,” and “Watch For Infection” are about to go triple-platinum in my headphones; I can feel it. I also really enjoyed how many other musical references I could spot in their setlist, whether intentional or not. “Talkback” has a similar guitar riff to Third Eye Blind’s “Never Let You Go,” “Dial Tone” has the same-ish melody as “Kokomo,” and for the second day of fall, I felt spooky listening to the Twilight Zone melody of “Watch For Infection.”

In between the opener and the main act, my friend and I chatted with the people around us, who all shared the same sentiment that there may or may not be a good show tonight, emphasis on the may not. It would solely depend on how sober the band was. A girl in front of me, a diehard fan who had seen them more times than she could count, said the chance for a good show was rare, speaking from experience. “One time, I went, and he forgot all the words to my favorite song,” she said. “I was so pissed.”

When the band took the stage at 9 p.m., they were met with cheers and the aforementioned “I love you Isaac!” yelps. They immediately launched into the set with “Third Side of the Moon.” The stage was filled with bunches of pink and white baby’s breath, which prompted a tale from Brock after coasting through the first few songs. He told of an angry bride who refused her flowers–or something along those lines–and that we would instead get them. Throughout the show, he continuously launched heaps of baby’s breath at the crowd–with horrible aim and trajectory, might I add. Three bunches landed on my head. I left with a few blossoms as a souvenir and found some more in my hair later.

During songs I didn’t know, I dreamed of catching another Robber Robber show.

I kept waiting for the drunken slip-up, but it never came. Thankfully, we were granted with a seemingly sober show for our first time. I’m a fairly seasoned concertgoer and I’ve watched artists cry, skip around a stage, scream angrily, and experience just about every emotion possible. I also grew up going to church and watched many a preacher’s crescendoed lament before it disappeared into a whisper for effect. (Very beatnik. Snaps to that.)

Isaac Brock does the same.

Much like the preacher for God, Modest Mouse is a vessel of emotion for those in the audience. Brock throws himself at the microphone, almost going into battle with each song. He thrashes his head and his body pulses to the drums. He’s stomping, and he’s almost growling into the microphone as he sings, everything coming from the gut. The two girls in front of me cry, the guy to my right raises his cigarette to every lyric that relates to him, and the couple behind me sways to the rhythm. I keep catching glances of my best friend smiling to the music. I was happy to see how fulfilling the show was for every die-hard fan around me.

On that note, “Float On” became a staple of my personal soundtrack throughout college. Not only is it an upbeat song to play at a backyard party tossing sticky ping pong balls into Natty Light-filled red Solo cups, but it also kept me going through those four years. As a recent college graduate, happy to be done with the mental warfare and outward volatility of Finding Yourself, “Float On” was a root.

“I ran my mouth off a bit too much, oh, what did I say? Well, you just laughed it off, it was all okay…” “Bad news comes, don’t you worry even when it lands / Good news will work its way to all them plans.” Suddenly, I was becoming the guy in front of me, raising a cigarette to Every. Single. Lyric.

When it was time for the encore, the band left the stage (“This is the part where we go away and then we come back,” Brock sing-songed while slow-motion running in place) and returned to the Jaws theme song. It was anything but modest and only revived my childhood fear of anticipation. They closed their encore set with “Shit Luck.” If you’re a fan of the millennial optimism trend, you would’ve killed to be there.

I was sad that I didn’t get to hear the only other two songs I truly know the words to: ”Polar Opposites” and “Ocean Breathes Salty.” While I loved Modest Mouse’s energy and performance, I spent the show thinking about Robber Robber and dying to listen to their songs on the drive back home. They really robbed my attention, though I left satisfied from Modest Mouse’s set regardless.

Exhausted from standing in the same spot in my platform boots for upward of three hours, I promptly popped every joint in my body, stretched, groaned, and complained to my friend about the drive back. I think the crowd’s energy rubbed off on me.

Modest Mouse setlist
Third Side of the Moon
Absolutely Necessary Never
Fly Trapped in a Jar
Back to the Middle
Remember Yourself
Life Like Weeds
Shit in Your Cut
Doin’ the Cockroach
Speak ‘n Spell (Or Not)
Interstate 8
Trucker’s Atlas
Knocked Down by Waves
Picking Dragons’ Pockets
Float On
Impossible Sundays
Dogbed in Heaven / Give It a Skeleton
Gravity Rides Everything
Night on the Sun
Shit Luck