On Tuesday night at the Visulite Theatre in Charlotte a large crowd of people were eagerly awaiting a band who are known all over the world. Surprisingly, the crowd consisted of a large number of alternative middle-aged couples. A group that I do not usually see at the concerts I go to. It makes sense since The Mountain Goats have been around for many years. Their three members have played music in many bands, ran record labels, and just been highly involved in the music industry. Since this Raleigh, NC based band have been touring for many many years, I went to this show with the expectation of seeing something special. I have not listened to them that much but I hoped that going to this show would make me want to explore their large discography.
When we arrived at the venue, opening act Nurses were playing. Their first few songs were nothing special at all, but then they started to come into their own and became quite a bit more interesting. The singer mentioned that he was sick and would have to cut the set short, and I could definitely tell in the way that he was straining his voice. Still though, they were pretty good for what they had. They sounded like a mix between The Black Keys and Born Ruffians, the singer also looked like a mix of Dan Auerbach and Dax Shepard. I enjoyed their style of music, but it was also nothing super special. I recently listened to their first album Hangin’ Nothin’ But Our Hands Down and it was an crazy, energetic cabaret-rock cd with the singer’s voice reaching extreme highs and lows. Probably in part due to his sickness, I saw none of this energy or vocal range during the show, which was slightly disappointing.
The Mountain Goats started earlier than they were supposed to due to Nurses’ short set and came out to a highly energetic crowd. Obviously Charlotte was excited to have the band in their city. Singer John Darnielle mentioned that he had never played in Charlotte before but I think he will want to come back after the warm reception from the big crowd. They started playing some songs but all I could do was stare at the drummer and wonder where I had seen him before. For some strange reason, I felt as if I had met this guy before even though I’d never seen The Mountain Goats play. I quickly Wikipedia-ed him on Jamie’s phone and found out that he is Jon Wurster from Superchunk who I saw play at Hopscotch. I can absolutely say that his drumming was the best part of both shows.
Something about The Mountain Goats just puts a barrier in front of me and it will not let me get into their music. I have never been able to and seeing them live really did not change that. I understand that Darnielle can write some damn good lyrics and they have some good music but it’s just not my cup of tea. I liked their new song White Cedar, the song Palmcorder Yajna and a few others but that was kind of it. The drummer was interesting to watch though. I’m not trying to sound stuck-up here because I really understand that for lots of singers it isn’t about how perfect their voices are, but sometimes John Darnielle kinda sounds like a mountain goat when he sings. I’m not trying to be rude, it’s just what I was thinking during the show and I want to write an honest review. All in all, it was a good show but nothing more than that. I can see the appeal, I understand why people like The Mountain Goats, but I just think I won’t be able to get into them ever. If you like The Mountain Goats, go see them, because I’m sure you’ll love it. The whole crowd did. If you’re not sure, don’t go because it might not be worth it.