Concert Review : Modest Mouse Live at the Main Street Armory in Rochester, NY 4/26/07

"We Died Before the Ship Even Sank", the most recent album from Modest Mouse debuted at number one on the Billboard album charts. Ten years ago (even 5 years ago), who would have thought that an off-kilter, Northwestern indie rock act lead by an eccentric frontman could dominate today's music scene. But the music scene takes crazy shifts and turns and it just so happens that now is Modest Mouse's moment to shine.

Twelve years into there career, Issac Brock and company have hit their peak, selling six figure album sales and playing the largest venues of their career. On April 26th, 2007, Modest Mouse's most recent tour stopped at the Main Street Armory in Rochester, NY to a packed crowd of fans both young and old. They also brought along two openers, Love As Laughter and Man Man.

Love As Laughter kicked off the evening. The bands solid blend of Rolling Stones inspired rock put the crowd got the crowd warmed up. Lead singer Sam Jayne and company have been working on new material and this was a perfect time to showcase their stripped down rockers. Then Man Man took the stage and rolled the audience over with their frantic live show. Their mixture of Tom Waits/Frank Zappa experimental jazz rock and nonstop performance with no breaks kept up a high energry level from start to finish. Both bands did a wonderful job of setting the stage for the headliners.

Once Modest Mouse took the stage and quickly went into "Paper Thin Walls", we knew that it was all about business. No theatrics, no visuals, very little banter, it was all about the music. The boys sounded super tight as they ripped through a set that dominated by the two most recent Modest Mouse records ("We Died Before the Ship Even Sank" and "Good News for People Who Love Bad News" respectively), but it still featured a number of classic tunes such as "Doin the Cockroach", "Dramamine" and "Trailer Trash", all to the delight of the crowd.

Those who have followed Modest Mouse for the last few years know that the band has added some members to its core line-up and the live show really benefits. Percussionist Joe Plummer adds more depth to the bands rhythmic quality, serving as a nice compliment to drummer Jeremiah Green's steady back-beat. Multi-instramentalist Tom Peloso is the bands utility player. Switching from keyboards to horns to bass to vocals, the guy can do it all and really helps fill out Modest Mouse's sound.

And of course, how can I forget about Johnny Marr. The legendary Smiths guitarist joined the band while recording their last album and it is a real treat that he has decided to hit the road with the band. Having him and Brock duel it out on guitars all night is a true site for all music fans. The live renditions of "Tiny Cities Made of Ashes" and "The View" shows their new line up tight and ready to take their music in a new and interesting direction.

Modest Mouse's ended their ninety minute set with "Fly Trapped in a Jar" and bid the audience a farewell. As the crowd filled out of the Main Street Armory, everyone had a satisfied look on their faces. It was great to see that mainstream success hasn't driven Modest Mouse away from their original goal, to create memorable music on their own terms and not bow down to outside pressure.