rem/modest mouse

Wednesday night, we braved the traffic (which wasn't all that bad) and headed up to Maryland to see R.E.M. and Modest Mouse.

(It was a good deal for me. R.E.M. happens to be my wife's favorite band, and the concert happened to be on her birthday. Gift. Easy.)

I'm actually a bigger fan of Modest Mouse, or at least I listen to Modest Mouse far more often. I hadn't seen them in person before, and after seeing them at an outdoor amphitheater in front of a crowd obviously there for another band, I have to say MM would be much better suited to a small club than an expansive outdoor setting (although it's pretty hard to compare their set, without any extra stage decoration or A/V displays, to R.E.M., which had giant big screens constantly showing video tied to the music).

Before we went I knew to expect the oddest thing about Modest Mouse: the fact that lead singer Issac Brock sounds like he should be a thin hipster but actually looks like an aging frat guy. No matter - I'm still a fan of the sound and the lyrics.

The new odd thing I noted was the fact the band's stage presence seemed to hint at an odd chemistry - Brock was set up well to one side of the stage, while all his bandmates congregated well on the other side. Again, no matter as far as the listener is concerned.

So the MM set simply made me want to see them again in the future, preferably in a smaller, darker venue.

R.E.M., however, is the perfect band for an expansive outdoor setting. The visual props help, but after decades of practice the band has a simply amazing stage presence. Stipe was joking with the crowd, talking just enough to give the crowd the feeling he was showing them something personal, but not enough to get in the way of the songs. And the songs filled the space, energized the crowd. Where the space and disinterested crowd seemed to swallow Modest Mouse, the R.E.M. experience more than filled the area.

I haven't listened to much of the new album (or, really, much of anything they've released since Automatic for the People). I don't consider myself much of a fan of R.E.M., although I do appreciate the sound, but they certainly shine in a concert setting. There's enough singles from different eras in the catelog they could slip a few in for everyone in between the newer or more obscure selections.

It didn't hurt that the sun went down just before they took the stage, turning the spotlight on them even more. It's been a while since we've seen a large-scale show, and this was a good one.