The Final Countdown

That song was requested of Colin Meloy last night, but he didn't play it. Well, he did one line. There was plenty of other amusement, though. Whenever I see Colin or the Decemberists nowadays, I can't help but recall that I first saw them at the now defunct bar/club Luther's Blues less than two years ago ... and I'd narrowly missed them at Catacombs coffee house earlier that year. Luther's held about 600 people. Now Colin is headlining places like Park West (capacity around 1200) all by himself. That makes me feel old. "In my day, the Decemberists played coffee houses, and I had to walk 40 miles uphill in the snow each way to get to school..."

He's definitely up to the challenge. Between-song banter was glib and funny without seeming too rehearsed. The music sounded great (though the song for his upcoming baby, albeit sweet, was pretty cheesy) and we even got tacked-on nuggets like a Fleetwood Mac verse and chorus at the end of "Here I Dreamt I Was An Architect" ("Now you guys know the secret of that song") and "California 1/Youth and Beauty Brigade" turning into "California 1/Youth and Beauty Brigade/Ask" as Colin indulged the Smiths geek within. Not to mention "Red Right Ankle." I do love that song.

I got a copy of the "Colin Meloy Sings Shirley Collins" EP, which is once again charmingly decorated by Ms. Carson Ellis and is now sitting next to my copy of "Colin Meloy Sings Morrissey" from last year. I hope he keeps this series up.