But before I get to the goods, I have to talk about the openers. Land of Talk played first and were somewhat enjoyable. The band's front man is actually a front woman, who both sings and plays some of the most shreddingest solos I've heard. But, proving that I'm becoming an old fart myself, I fell asleep during their set. While standing up. Trust me, falling asleep while standing up is one of the weirdest things ever. You sway and jaunt awake when you're about to lose balance. Then, of course, you play it off to the people around you like you meant to teeter totter.
Oddly enough, the band without any ladies made me grow, at last count, eighteen vaginas. Grizzly Bear lived up to all the indie hype by proving to be another one of the whispy, whiny, and glacial bands that blogs fawn over and proclaim to be genius even though they come no where close to, you know, rocking. Just because they harmonize and play an autoharp doesn't make them worthwhile. No song had a melody, a discernible beginning or end, or even any type of rhythm. Just sparse noodlings from dudes in tight jeans. You know what, I'm honest when I say I like rock and roll. I like seeing bands play pop songs and look like they're having fun.
And that's what the Decemberists are all about.They came out and opened with "July, July!" and "Billy Liar", two songs from their first two albums that I didn't hear last time. I pretty much was set, right there, good time was already had. After the second song, Colin said that the band was going to play summery songs to fit the mood. And they did. Aside from two
ballads, every song was pop perfection and upbeat, exactly what a band should do. Even though Colin had to keep the banter to a minimum (this banter being a highlight of the last show I saw) due to the strict curfew, he managed to have fun with the audience. He tossed a beach ball onstage and back and forth with the audience, had everyone do spirit fingers in the air during the ticker tape 
parade line of "Perfect Crime #2," and inspired everyone to sing along loudly to the closing choruses of "The Engine Driver" and "Sons & Daughters." All the while, John Moen added fun vocal accents while playing the drums and Chris Funk and Jenny Conlee made goofy faces and laughs while ripping through their multiple instruments with glee. Not to be outdone, bassist Nate Query did some amazingly fast high kicks while playing his upright bass during "Mariner's Revenge Song." No other band has this much fun onstage.
After promptly ending their set at 9:30, Colin came back onstage and announced that they could play "a whole lot more" since they were so good with staying on time. He then went into a solo performance of "Red Right Ankle." The band's closing songs were absolute joy. Right before Jenny's part in "The Chimbley Sweep," Colin put the entire band "to sleep" and then put the audience "to 
sleep." A huge field of people all sitting, crouching, at the whim of Mr. Meloy until the band started up again with the song's closing chorus. And I posted before about how awesome "Mariner's Revenge Song" is live, and it was no different this time. The look on every concertgoers' face after the show was one of pure glee. I overheard many 
people say how amazing the last song was and how they thought the show would be boring. Yeah, an acoustic based indie band who sings songs about 19th century European life should be boring shouldn't they? Not the best live band on Earth, right? Well, every time I see the Decemberists, they blow me away.Setlist: July, July!/Billy Liar/Summersong/Perfect Crime 2/The Sporting Life/From My Own True Love/The Engine Driver/Crane Wife 3/The Island/O Valencia/Sons And Daughters//Red Right Ankle/Oceanside/The Chimbley Sweep/The Mariner's Revenge Song
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