i took this from an email i just wrote to my friend from the modest mouse
list..it's basically the details of my first ever mouse show, and second
show in general proceeding q and not u. if you don't wanna read my amazing
experience which is probably only amazing to me, scroll down to the end.
"...once she got home, we were on our way! of
course, my poor uncle had to stop at walgreen's and get earplugs for
himself first :P i went without the earplugs because i'm tough like that!
at this point i sorta start to panic, thinking pessemistically that the
show has been cancelled. silly, silly me.
so now it's about 9:27pm, which is approximately three minutes before the
show is supposed to start. it didn't go on til about 9:40pm or so but
that's pretty damn good time regardless. conveniently, people i know were
way at the front, like literally right below where isaac would end up being
(we'll get to that in a bit) so i stood sorta behind them because i planned
on taking pics and didn't really wanna look straight up at him to get the
angles that i wanted. my buddies were really good about moving a bit for
me so i could take pics, so props to them. it's about 9:40pm and the shins
come on, really cool band. by this time i was having a panic attack sort
of, feeling as if it wasn't really me who was at this show, but it was.
the shins are really cool, by the way, check them out. i even wrote them
an email today letting them know i think they rule. the lead singer and
guitarist stood on my side so i got to see him in action. they did about
six songs or so and it was all really cool. the shins were tight, i was
impressed.
after the shins were gone 764-HERO came on about five or ten minutes later.
they started with "terrified of flight" and proceeded onto their other
single, "without fire." i forget the other stuff they did because by then
i was thinking "oh my god oh my god oh my god modest mouse is next oh my
god." someone on the list said that when they saw 764-HERO on this tour,
they weren't doing very well, but this show was absolutely tight. the only
downfall is that the lead singer was on the other side so i couldn't get
very good pics of him. might i mention that when the show first started,
polly looked directly at me ;) i was like "woah haha cool!" anyway, when
the show ended i was in awe because i love 764-HERO. i think i'd like to
go see them when they're the head band touring. the most bizarre thing
about all of this is that i can be like, "yes i've seen modest mouse and
764-HERO live!" it probably sounds stupid, but i just can't believe i'm
able to say that.
so now it's modest mouse time....ok, it took altogether about 10 or 15
minutes, i'd guess, for 764 to get off and modest mouse to get on. about
eight minutes into this de764heroing and modestmousing eric judy comes on
and i'm like "WOAH!" haha i'm such a dork, and ugh this asshole guy is out
there too...he's the fourth guy that they're having help on tour. the
reason i don't like him is before the show started, i bought a modest mouse
poster and then i bought the night on the sun ep, but when i was trying to
find the money for the night on the sun ep, he was like "10$" so i was
scrounging around and he's like "10$!" in this really assertive, cocky
manner because he had to get on with his important indie-leet conversation
that he was having. i wanted to be like "hey GUY why don't you hold your
fucking horses?" where does a guy who's trying to make a sale get off
acting like he's some sort of important, better person than me? you'd
think perhaps i would let that rain on my parade, but alas, it did not!
nope, i shoved that night on the sun rarity into my backpack in a hostile
er i mean nonhostile manner along with the rare poster i bought, making
sure that both would be worth nothing by the time i was done with them ;)
i think i can sorta flatten out both, though, because neither got
especially damaged or anything which is good because i paid $20 altogether.
anyway, i see isaac and i'm just like..i can't believe it, it's not even
real to me. he's standing, or actually, kneeling, less than five feet away
from me. i guess one of his distortion boxes or something broke because uh
he said "this fucking thing broke" or something to that extent and then
threw it against the wall. being as though that night was 'amy is a
retard' night, i was just sorta like "swoon." i have a feeling i was being
annoying, because i was annoyed by myself, but i couldn't help it. i've
been listening to modest mouse since i was like 13 or so. first song i
ever heard was "the fruit that ate itself," which i wanted them to play but
they never did. i should've yelled it out but i didn't have the balls.
anyway, jeremiah was the last person up there and about five minutes later
they started. here's the playlist before i give the actual details, in no
particular order except for trucker's atlas, paper thin walls, doin the
cockroach, and i came as a rat (i tried to make this as accurate as
possible but don't rely on me for the absolute playlist):
1) trucker's atlas
2) paper thin walls
3) doin' the cockroach
teeth like god's shoeshine (this was so badass by the way)
doin' the cockroach
trailer trash
lives
polar opposites (uhm....we will get to this ;))
broke
third planet
tiny cities made of ashes
alone down there
custom concern
last/encore: i came as a rat
ok, maybe it's just because i'm really inexperienced, but the energy was
fucking INCREDIBLE. for the first two songs, we all just kinda danced, but
when "doin' the cockroach" came on things got sorta rowdy. people were
like crowd surfing and shit, and i was scared but i have never once in my
life felt that kind of energy and in a way it made me feel safe. the most
amazing part of all is that they played both "broke" and "polar opposites."
i mean, "polar opposites" is pretty rare to hear live, right? i just felt
so honored to be there, it was one of the best and most memorable moments
in the 16 short years i've been alive. it was so awesome, though, when
this guy...i dunno who he is...announced the playing of "teeth like god's
shoeshine." they were talking in olde english or something, and isaac was
saying something to the extent of, "and what would you like to hear my good
man?" and the other guy says "teeth like god's shoeshine" in a bizarre,
olde english way...so uhm, yeah. it was fucking awesome. weird stuff like
that sorta happened throughout the show..at the beginning, before they
started, this girl got picked to try on a shirt that some roadie guy was
wearing and keep it. he sang through his guitar like he's known to
notoriously do, and he stuck his mic in his mouth ;) it was so fucking
awesome. you should've felt the energy, i could've shit myself it was so
great. i got teary-eyed because it was just so..surreal. ubersurreal,
even!
ok one thing i forgot to mention: when the shins played, they were on my
side...but when 764-HERO played, the mic was way down on the other side of
the stage, so when modest mouse were gonna come on we assumed that isaac's
mic would unfortunately be placed down where 764-HERO's was..but we were
wrong! he ended up playing directly infront of me, and i got some of the
best pics because of it. i was just far away enough so that i didn't have
to look up too far.
oh my god, i forgot the end! so like, after the 10 or 15 minute encore of
"i came as a rat," people are standing there, the place is packed and i
don't really care if they play again or not, but everyone is bugging them
for another song. this goes on for like 10 or 15 minutes, and finally a
bouncer or someone comes up and says that the show is over. they don't
shut up, so then isaac comes on soon after and says something like..."the
show ith over, and if you guyth don't leave they'll loth their liquor
lithenthe and thtuff." i distinctly remember the "and thtuff" part ;) so
finally people just sorta cool off and chill, talking to one another, but i
run over to where isaac is getting off. here-in is where i become a huge
dumbass, but with no regrets! i tap on isaac's shoulder and i'm like "will
you take a pic with me?" so he's like "sure no problem." so he's just like
standing there and i'm like "are you just standing there waiting for the
pic to be taken?" and he's like "yep" so i quickly find someone to take the
pic for me, and that's that. i'm like "thank you so much" and he's like
"sure, take care." wow..heh, i'm officially a huge dork, but like i
said..no regrets. all the pics i took of the show and the one with isaac
should be ready by monday. i can't wait :)
so that's what happened september 14th, 2000 at the high dive in
champaign-urbana :P
i will remember this forever, hopefully, and if not..i suck.
xoxo amy"
if you have the exact setlist, please send it to me at [EMAIL PROTECTED]
or if you went to the show and have any goodies, memories of it, etc email
at the same addy.
peace out,
amy
