And granted for their pleasure...

Friday night at the Orpheum, the Decemberists played "The Tain" and Chris Funk brought up the Bristol Renaissance Faire. That's my headline version of the evening - if my imaginary newspaper only had room for one sentence about the show, that would be it. Because really, what other ingredients do you need for awesomeness?

Okay, some other stuff happened too. My Brightest Diamond opened the show. I was completely unfamiliar with Shara Worden and her band, but came away impressed with what I heard. The songs managed to be pretty while rocking at the same time. I thought some of the material reminded me a bit of early U2 - that is, if Bono were a breathy-voiced woman and could actually play guitar.

The Decemberists came out shortly after 9:00 and started things off with "The Crane Wife 1." I'm used to Decemberists shows being pretty short, and I honestly don't think they played a ton of songs this time either - but the show managed to clock in at nearly two hours, which in my Decemberists memory is unusual. Then again, they played all three parts of the "The Island," "The Mariner's Revenge Song" (I always forget how much more fun that is live than on the record - John Moen doing the whole thing blindfolded was a nice touch) and oh yeah, THE TAIN. Did I mention they played "The Tain?" I seem to recall seeing them do it live once before, but to be honest, I could just be making that up because I know I've wanted to see it. Anyway, it was a treat. Colin is a lot of fun to watch on the drums.

The last time the band played the Orpheum, Colin invited a bunch of fans onstage. He mentioned that incident, joking that the crowd actually "bum rushed" the stage and he definitely had no part in it. More comments were made about the height of the stage, too - I think joking about the stage height might be in the contract bands sign to play the Orpheum. Unlike the show I saw late last year in Chicago, no theatrical scenes were acted out in the audience. Colin did once again pit sections of the crowd against each other for duelling "la di da's" at the end of "16 Military Wives," though, and he organized a brief dance competition at the front of the crowd. I can understand why some people think Decemberists shows can be too gimmicky or theatrical, but I enjoy that aspect. They are performers, and the majority of the audience - especially the kids in front - eat it up. That's part of what a Decemberists show is, and everyone should really know it by now.

And yes, I did just refer to the "kids" up front. Good Lord, Decemberists shows make me feel old.