Modest Mouse

For those who don't know, Modest Mouse is my favorite band of all time. They are an Indie Rock band from Seattle. In my opinion they are the greatest band to ever grace this earth and on Tuesday March 10th I saw them live at the House of Blues in Myrtle Beach, NC. It was the first time I'd seen them and I had been wanting to see them since my Junior year of High School. I realize that this story isn't too appealing to most people reading it, but lately I have realized that I am obsessed with this band, or maybe just obsessed with Isaac Brock, the lead singer and founder of the band. He is, and I have no problem saying this, a genius. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not obsessed in the same way as Mark David Chapman was obsessed with John Lennon, so don't worry. Consider the last few lines a side bar, basically I'm saying that since I'm obsessed with the band I feel like a have to write this. Anyways, back to the story. I left work early to drive the 3 hours to Myrtle which went nice and smooth and I got to the show with about 30 minutes to spare. I walked in giddy as a school girl and drooled all over the band merchandise. I bought a sweet t-shirt and a little booklet with pictures of the band and little quotes in it all together costing me $20. I was sick that week so I got a bottle of water and made my way to the floor. I stayed in the back so my sick little self wouldn't have to deal with all the pushing and shoving at the front. There were two opening bands, one who's name I can't remember and the other was Mimicking Birds. Mimicking Birds were really good. The lead singer sounded great and the drummer was phenomenal. They got off and there was a 10 minute break before MM got on. In those 10 minutes the stage crew brought out several more guitars, a banjo, a cornet, a violin, a cello, a keyboard, and a few more I cant remember. There are 6 members of the band, two of which are on the drums. Which brings me to another point. The drummers of the band look almost identical and they play in a synchronised way which adds such an amazing feel to their show. Finally they announced the band and they came onstage while spotlights swept over the crowd. I was screaming and cheering so loud I thought my throat was going to bleed. They opened with an amazing song, Spitting Venom, which starts off slow and builds up into something comparable to the ending of the movie Snatch. At this point I was in Nirvana and the fact that I knew every word to every song made the show so much better. They finished and got off the stage and the crowd immediately started cheering for an encore. About 5 minutes later Isaac came out and started playing a song. He was joined by the rest of the band as the song progressed, which it did in an upward fashion. The way Isaac plays his guitar reminds me of a bear tearing apart a small animal. He wails on it and looks completely awesome. The last song they played was Fly Trapped in a Jar which was played like this. For the last line in the song Isaac lifts the guitar to his face and sings the lines into the guitar strings and the vibration made it sound really awesome. They finished off their set and I was left in a shocked and sweaty state. It was such an amazing show and I'm pretty upset at the fact that I had to work the day after which meant I didn't have time to stick around for autographs. The drive back was good though. It went very fast and I was in such a good mood. So there you have it, one of the greatest days of my life and definitively the best concert I've ever been too.