2013-05-30 Wonder Ballroom (Portland, OR)

John Darnielle solo show. Recording.

Setlist

• Alpha Rat's Nest
• Attention All Pickpockets
• Alpha in Tauris
• Animal Mask
• Absolute Lithops Effect
• Maybe Sprout Wings
• Old College Try
• Elijah
• The Ballad of Bull Ramos
• Against Pollution

Banter

• I try when I'm explaining new songs to people, I play the same song, but I don't want to be quoting myself night after night. You see us two nights in a row, the same story, you're disheartened by that. But at the same time, if you change up the story radically every time, then you can't actually tell the truth, which is a conflict there, you see, it's very deeply stressful, I'm actually in therapy about it. So this is a song about professional wrestling, and it's about a specific thing called a battle royale. And the battle royale, it's awesome, it's the sport of kings! Everybody gets in the ring together and they all shake hands, then they ring the bell and then everybody all at once starts beating everybody else's ass. And it's, really, it's miraculous, no one seems to be confused by this. They, somehow, they manage to actually make it work instead of it being actual chaos. It's almost as if it's choreographed. and if you go over the top rope, usually, if there's no cage, then you're out. If there's a cage, then the rules get weird, and if you watch old matches, you can tell they haven't quite gotten it down. Sometimes you climb out, old cage matches there's a door to the cage. Your goal is to get out, so you wrestle a guy, maybe he gets hurt, and you head for the door. You open the door, but he grabs you by the leg, and pulls you back in. It's the weirdest thing. Becomes a race to who can run away fastest. Valor. But the battle royal is a long thing with 12 to 18 to 24 people, and you have to form allegiances in that sort of battle. You can't just be for yourself, you have to make friends. And learn who your new friends are and stand by them and trust them amidst the chaos. This song takes place inside a battle royale inside the labor and delivery room. (Animal Mask)
• There was a wrestler named Bull Ramos. He had a bullwhip. That was a badass weapon to have. If you see a man comin' at you with a bullwhip, you should go the other way, because he's...no good can come from being attacked with a bullwhip, I suppose. But that was his whole deal, he would show up with the thing, but he'd never actually use it, because you can't whip your opponent in any sport, as far as I know. I don't know that there's a sport except the one that I'm promoting this tour, whipping, it's a very brutal sport... This is inspired by the great Bull Ramos, who was apparently, like, all bad guys, if you meet anybody who knew him, 'ah, he was the best guy, he'd give you the shirt off his back', and he, like a lot of wrestlers, didn't have a retirement plan, so he opened up a truck yard in Arizona and worked to a ripe old age. (The Ballad of Bull Ramos)