A week ago I was off to see The Decemberists in Paradiso following the postponement of The Gathering’s concert in Rotterdam - which I didn’t actually have tickets for, but was feeling loyal anyway. Actually, I’ve been listening to Picaresque quite a lot in recent times, whereas I’ve barely touched the new Gathering album, so it should have been an easier decision, but loyalty is still important to me.

The support band was the Radar Bros, who I had reasonable hopes for actually. I’m not sure why, because I saw them play the QMU in Glasgow a few years back, possibly supporting Breeders, and they were fairly boring then, if harmless. This time, I confess I was pretty sloshed and barely remember them being onstage, and had my eyes closed most of the time as I was ready for sleep. But it really wasn’t just the alcohol. Their songs blended together in such a hazy, mellow way that nothing was memorable. I’m sure they’re nice guys and have some pretty moments on record, but when you’re supporting you really need to do something to stand out.

As for The Decemberists, well they were really good fun. Despite one of my closest friends proclaiming them awful and declaring them the music equivalent of the Fraggles, this description only boosted my concert experience rather than dragged it down. I can see why Colin Meloy’s voice can annoy, although I don’t particularly notice it myself now. Mainly I lose myself in the instrumentation, even sparing some thoughts for the lyrics, which is rare enough by my standards.

Overall they were very entertaining and talkative despite being a bit zonked with jet lag. More bands should make use of getting an audience to sit down now that James are mostly forgotten by the younger generation. And more bands should invite strangers to share their instruments - Megadeth and Corrosion of Conformity did so to better effect at my first metal concert, but with Megadeth in the old days, they’d have given up their instruments to anyone so long as they could play less and have more drugs, I imagine. Of course, Neil Finn did the ultimate by inviting entire Bands of Strangers for entire concerts (as well as it being an old habit at normal gigs), making for one of the most memorable gigs I’ve ever been to, but yes, more bands need to break down the boundary between band and audience. And finally, there was the Colin Meloy casually sprawled out on the floor of Paradiso incident. This worked out much better than the last time a drunken Chan Marshall ended up down there singing ‘Fuck the pain away!’ over and over.

A rather random recollection I know, but if you’re looking for accuracy check here. If you’re looking for photos try here. And on the off-chance that you haven’t heard The Decemberists, try this…

mp3: The Engine Driver