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Up Close and Personal

I've been going to concerts for a very long time since the first one when my younger brother John won 6th row tickets to Three Dog Night in Boston Garden when I was 14 and he was 12. I made him take me since I was standing there urging "call in, call in", my logic was, hey if it weren't for me, you wouldn't have known to call. Honestly at 12 I'm not sure my folks would've let him take the train into Boston with another 12 year old anyway. So, after years of good to pretty good seats to such folks as Rolling Stones, U2, Pearl Jam and hundreds more, I've never been in the very front, by which I mean there is no person in front of you, except the band a few feet away up there on stage. This was our reward for going very early to Santa Barbara to apparently an area where the locals are not just crazy about Modest Mouse the way we are. The bowl is small, only 4700 capacity, and still there were last minute tickets available. In Montana at a venue in Missoula, they sold out in ten minutes and I never could get tickets. So, needless to say when we were there in line with about 20 other people at around 5 pm we figured we'd be close, but after a little jockeying with a "kid zone" they allowed us all the vantage point that everyone should experience at least once in their life. Modest Mouse put on a terrific show, they were so fun to watch so close doing this synchronized dance that produces these intricate intensely energetic tunes. The new ones from We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank like "Fire it Up" and the old familiar ones like "Float On' really presented the total package for the attendees. The intensity of Isaak Brock's tortured vocals which comes through on their albums was notched up even more in person. The duel drummers dressed in their striped sleeveless sailor shirts and the slew of hurricane lamps set the "ship's" feel for the show. And the dueling lead guitars back and forth with such beauty and grace was a joy to watch. Isaak certainly plays a guitar like no one I've ever seen, it's suprising he doesn't break several strings each show. The best shows evoke a spiritual experience and this one did. To feel totally engulfed in the musical magic that is going on between the six players is very special. I'm glad that when I get the urge to take a chance and buy the tickets for an event I know I'll love that I just do it. This show goes down as one of my all time favorites. Modest Mouse plays like no other band, a unique entity with brilliant writing and a style of playing unlike any other band.