The Decemberists Live at Vicar St.
Review by Sarah Swinburne
The Decemberists made a return visit to their
regular haunt at Vicar St. This gig marked the
opening of the European leg of their What a
Terrible World, What a Beautiful World tour.
Tickets came in at a very reasonable €25
(standing), which included a two-hour, twoencore performance from The Decemberists,
plus an impressive opening act from Windings.
The latter are an indie/folk quintet, originally
from Limerick.
The show kicked off promptly at 8.30 with a
brisk set from Windings. The lead singer Steve
Ryan was bumbling, chatty and charming, a
welcome change from the dour demeanour of
a lot of support acts. His bandmates
unfortunately, had a tendency for shoe-gazing.
Windings were immediately impressive
despite the short set. Their drive and
enthusiasm was palpable; they couldn’t seem
to believe their luck at getting an opportunity
to support The Decemberists.
They were also especially enthused to
announce their new song (‘This is the New
Song!’, ‘We’re going to play the New One!’,
as they kept repeating). Their excitement was
well placed. ‘Ambivalence Blues’ was the
highlight of the performance. The chorus
which went something like “Don’t make
friends as though you’re trying to make up
numbers at your funeral” was instantly
addictive. Windings seem to specialise in indie
folk with elements of punk, which makes the
inclusion of 70’s era guitar solos rather
surprising. Lead guitarist and singer Steve
Ryan is aware that guitar solos, like speeches,
should be kept short. As a result, the brevity of
these musical interludes made them really
effective and punchy. Windings were a really
high quality support act. On the basis of their
performance, their album I am Not the Crow
should be well worth a listen.
At 9.30 on the dot, The Decemberists made
their way to the stage. Singer Colin Meloy
opened with ‘A Singer Addresses his
Audience’ – a tongue-in-cheek devotional tune
about the pervasive nature of fame and the
possessiveness of ardent fans ‘who were there
first!’ The remaining members all joined
Meloy for the surging apex of the song.
Another early song was the twelve minute
epic ‘The Island: Come and See/The
Landlord’s Daughter/You’ll Not Feel the
Drowning’ from The Crane Wife. An unusual
choice to select such a long song for an album
tour, however, it proved to be one of the most
memorable songs of the evening. The frenzied
keyboard solo of the second movement
followed by the entire crowd crooning ‘you’ll
not feel the drowning…’ made it quite an
interactive tune. Other highlights of the
evening included ‘The Rake’, ’16 Military
Wives’ and ‘The Legionnaire’s Lament’.
The slower, quieter songs also proved to be
audience favourites. ‘June Hymn’ and ‘Eli, the
Barrowboy’ had the entire room spellbound
and dutifully singing along. The reflective and
utterly sincere ‘Carolina Low’ reduced the
boozy audience to complete silence.
4.5
Vicar St. held a very enthusiastic audience
that night. They were also, quite pleasingly,
exactly the type of people you would expect
to be Decemberists fans. The groundling
section hosted a plethora of full beards and
black framed glasses. One over excited Dub
couldn’t contain his joy and blurted out “THIS
IS CLASS!” during a quiet lull between songs.
Meloy was also pleased to encourage some
crowd interaction throughout the gig, even if
it was only to silence hecklers. “I can’t
understand you. You’re speaking in your
brogues”, he quipped to one persistent shouter.
There were also some moments of
playfulness. From singing the opening lines
from ‘Dublin’s Fair City’, to an impromptu
rendition of a Spandau Ballet classic, Meloy
was clearly enjoying himself. There was also
the brief interlude in which he expressed his
wish to have Morrissey stuffed and mounted
on display in Dublin’s Natural History
Museum. The import and significance of this
is unknown.
At 11.30, after the last notes of ‘The
Mariner’s Revenge Song’ were cut short due
to tumultuous applause, The Decemberists left
the stage a final time, leaving a very satisfied
audience in th