There is something about the heat and closeness of small venues that helps to bring out a musicians performance. When it is dark, sticky, and close to 90 degrees farenheit (a musicians favorite ambiance), people may be paying attention to the music even more in a dire attempt to ignore how hot they really are. The room is filled with 500 people and you are among them in a sea of trickling sweat and potent scents. And, this is not a, “Since we are close let’s now beat the living crap out of everyone around us to show how great the music is” fiesta. This is peaceful, everyone close but happy, like an indoor contained mini-woodstock; love your brother and feel the music. Yes, there is definitely something special when these elements come together and the music is right on. Over the weekend, visual music writer Anthony, our friend Marc (FOO), my brother Andrew, and his two friends, all journeyed into the perplexing labyrinth of Ithaca College in search of a singing goat named John Darnielle. What we found was a brief musical haven of intense feeling and truthfulness.
The Mountain Goats, the odd folk ensamble that comines John Darnielle’s interesting goat-like voice with thought-provoking lyrics, have always been one of those bands that Anthony and I have wanted to see. Everyone has those bands, dead or alive, that they would go out of their way to see. Hell, I would pay incredible sums of money to see a reincarnated John Lennon perform “Imagine,” but that is just me. The Mountain Goats are one of those bands, so when we heard they were coming to Ithaca College, we planned a vacation around a Cornell visit to my brother and a visit to Ithaca College for the Mountain Goats. We were not disappointed even though it was only John Darnielle and none of his band mates.
It is pointless giving a set list because after an artist has released over 16 studio albums song titles simply are not so important any longer. Hell, take a look at his upcoming release The Life of the World to Come where each song title is a bible verse. So, instead of giving a list of songs and saying how great his performance was on each of them, I thought I would simply profile one of the songs that made a distinct impression on me during the concert. Conveniently, the song is off of the upcoming release. It’s title is, “Deuteronomy 2:10.”
Darnielle, throughout the show, cracked numerous jokes. A few were about new songs and how, since this was the first time he was playing some of them live, he hoped he did not screw them up. “Deuteronomy 2:10,” was one of these new songs and he certainly played it right. The song came in the middle of his set-list and, since the heat was increasing, I was sitting down on one of the provided chairs behind the lines of standing people in the front. Darnielle switched to keyboard for the song (I did not realize he could play keyboard) and began with a few simple chords that led right into his lyric. While the song played I remained seated, staring at the back of the heads of all the listeners who were standing up. They were all black and shadowy, the only light shining on Darnielle himself. The crowd stood still, almost in a musically induced daze. No one sang along, because no one knew the lyric. The song was a newborn baby that was first making its affect on the people around it. The room was silent except for Darnielle’s soft croon. And, then there came a moment. A moment where all the dark figures in front of me seemed to merge into a single entity. A single listener. And, Darnielle’s keyboard and voice became louder and it echoed off the walls, continuously raising in volume until the last note faded and applause followed. It may have just been the heat or possibly something more. Either way, Darnielle made quite the impact last Friday night.
The Music Court 
I also was quite fond of when he was playing “See America Right” and broke a string. Now, any other show you’re at they switch out his guitar so quick that you don’t even notice. John instead decided to laugh about it, then came back in a minute and said “Hey, we don’t have any of the right strings, does anybody in the audience have a guitar I can borrow?” Then, of course, he gets a guitar from the opening acts, and finishes up the last 20 seconds of the song.
I would have to say my favorite song on the setlist was International Small Arms Traffic Blues. He really showed his range on that one. In the beginning of the song he was playing so soft and low that you could hear a pin drop, and yet nobody dared drop one; so entranced in the lyrics and the sounds of the strings. Then, for the last verse, he breaks from the style of the beginning of the song (and the CD recording) and belts out that “our love is like the border between Greece and Albania.” The absurdity of the lyrics brought about a rise of laughter in the crowd, but he was that damn good in his singing and songwriting ability that while the words themselves were humorous, the emotion and the sentiment were still sharp, and he made it work beautifully.