It's starting to feel a little crazy that albums I listened to in high school are turning 20 years old. But reality is that those bands that I grew up with have been growing up along with me and two decades is a hell of a good reason to tour on the strength of an album. And when that band and album are as huge, monolithic even, as Modest Mouse and their fourth album Good News for People Who Love Bad News and it's being performed at a venue like Salt Shed, you know it's going to be worthwhile.
The set list for the first portion of the night was obviously set in stone. The excitement from that first blast of trumpets that announce the start of the album was palpable. While that opening salvo was a recorded intro, it didn't stop from having that incredible transition to tip toeing guitars of "The World at Large". Isaac Brock's soft and cadence followed and the songs tale of running away from the problems that fill you life and the regret that comes with it echoes in the Salt Shed's grandiose hall.
From that chilled out beginning to the explosiveness of "Float On", a song typically reserved for later on in a set getting highlighted nearly right off the bat. It's opening line of "I backed my car into a cop car the other day. Well he just drove off sometimes life's ok" feel emblematic of the band. From Brock's cadence to the instantly recognizable instrumentals, the song stand tall as one of the bands most loved tracks, even if it does have quite a few detractors.
Good News for People Who Love Bad News is a turning point for Modest Mouse. For some fans it was a pretty big sonic shift from their early work; shift many probably couldn't follow. For others it was the big introduction to the band as the radio play it got was like nothing they had experienced before. For me it lies somewhere in between. Good News... was the first album to come out while I was already a fan of the band, having discovered Moon and Antarctica and devoured the rest of their discography the year prior.
The album is full of highlights and every song had it's glorious moment. Some are clear constants in the band's rotation like "Ocean Breathes Salty", the albums second single, or are fantastically energizing like rapid fire of "Dancehall". the are tracks like "Bukowski" that hold a special place in my heart as I too had a run in with his writing and came to a similar conclusion: "God, who'd wanna be such an asshole?". But it's lesser played songs like "The Grand Tetons" and to an even greater extent "One Chance", which hasn't been played since the initial release of Good News..., that made the whole show, the whole damn tour, so special. The final track " The Good Times Are Killing Me" really hits home the themes of the album and perfectly capped off the set.
The encore portion of the set was equal parts old favorites off No One's First, and You're Next, and new songs like "Back to the Middle" and "Third Side of the Moon". It gave the clearly devoted fans at the Salt Shed a nice little taste of band as whole, capping it off with what is understandably one of their most recognizable songs: "Gravity Rides Everything". While that track is clearly a staple of the Modest Mouse's catalog, it's not performed at every show, so to get to hear it is always a pleasure. It's final line also feels oddly perfect for the album celebrating it's 20th birthday: "When we die some sink and some lay, but at least I don't see you float away".
All photos by Julian Ramirez.