The Decemberists Concert

William and I went to the Decemberists concert in Helena tonight. They were a very fun and enjoyable group. The Decemberists are the type of band whose live performance makes their studio recordings seem rather bland– there was so much energy among the band and the crowd…

Anyhow. I snuck my camera in. Here’s some pictures:

The band in all their glory

They played an incredible variety of instruments in an incredible variety of ways. In this picture, drummer John Moen is playing the drum with, that’s right, an oversized drum stick and his tambourine. It was very impressive, especially when he started kicking the drum around the stage and still managing to play on it in perfect rhythm.

During The Mariner’s Revenge Song, John pulled the drum up nice and close.

What might have been the highlight of the night, however, was when Petra Haden (the female background vocalist) sang a solo song. Her vocals were quintessentially Decemberists non-traditional, melodious, and very intriguing. Unfortunately, this song isn’t on any of their albums.

All in all, it was an incredible concert with an amazing band, and I would do a lot of indecent things to obtain a recording of the concert.