2023-10-29 Heights Theater
John Darnielle, Matt Douglas, Peter Hughes, Jon Wurster
Setlist
Recording (Taper: Ezralite23)
Banter
- JD: I said this the other night, and like, it feels performative but at the same time, when you elect to pick up a tambourine, and play it. If you're me and you grew up in the second wave of feminism, you remember how a lot of misogynists would go, 'oh, what's she do in the band, she plays the tambourine," motherfucker. Actually trying to keep time in 16th notes with [shakes tambourine]? That's a job. So. If you've ever hated on the tambourine player, stop.
Wurster: The tambourine is music's most painful instrument.
JD: That's right. It's like, it's like, a martial arts master of the tambourine: "you think you can play music? Try tambourine." Jon Wurster, what am I playing?
Wurster: Night Light!
JD: Hell yeah! (Fresh Tattoo)
- [JD starts playing Night Light, stops suddenly] Oh, that's right, I'm capoing up, huh. Disaster averted there. Half a step or a whole step? [Matt or Peter, off mic: whole step] The thing is, I'm very proud that you get to know that I'm capoing up. Because most of the other singers as they age, they tune down. The Mountain Goats go the other way. (Night Light)
- I had an idea. [cheering] Well, there's like a lot of them. Always. [audience: All of them!] That would be really dumb, by the end of that, one, everyone would be like, I'm ready to go now! I wanted to see the Mountain Goats for like, 2 hours, 2 and a half would have topped me out, but dude's been going for 8 hours, now he's all out of voice, he's like hackin' up blood. (Peacocks)
- I feel like I'm shorting you on sad ones. I have to come up with something really sad. Where are the sad songs? Sad songs are on...2007's Get Lonely. (Wild Sage)
- This one is off the new record, after Jenny takes a boarder. (Cleaning Crew)
- Matt? Let me explain what I'm asking. I would guess that one of the funniest things about being in a band with me is that I will write a song that is pretty good and complex, and I'll do pretty decent with my notes in the studio. And then it will go to the dark place where no one can see the notes. Well. Everyone else can see the notes, but not me. So Matt, which key is my friend in this song? F# is my friend! Not G#. Certainly not Ab. Little music joke there. G# and Ab are the same key, but I like the sound of Ab better so I will usually call it Ab. I've been trying to learn to call it G#. That's my resolution for the next year. Yes, Matt? Yes. F# is my friend. This song is about F# and how it is my friend. (Clean Slate)
- I'll tell ya. This is a song - I like it - it's got a lot of violence in it. Very violent song. Somebody, they didn't really yell it, very tenderly, someone went "violence". The tender violence vibe. This song relies very heavily on the B string, so lemme get it in tune. Man, when I was a child, Cat Stevens had a song called Peace Train. And for about 25 years of my life, I thought he was saying "B string". [laughter] And I did not understand this song. What are you talking about, Cat Stevens? I thought I would understand it better if I became a better musician. That hasn't happened yet, so I still don't quite get it. He was very excited about it, would get all growly and sing [Cat Stevens imitation] "Ride on B string!!" I dedicate this song to Yusuf Islam, formerly known as Cat Stevens. (First Blood)
- I used to feel bad about tuning my guitar until I became a Grateful Dead fan. You listen to old Grateful Dead bootlegs, those motherfuckers would tune for 15 minutes in front of a paying crowd, talking to each other off mic. It's inspiring. This song is a sort of evangelical sorta tune, at some time in all of our lives we might find ourselves responsible for a body floating in a water tower. (Water Tower)
- Is the art car museum still here or did it fold? [cheers from the audience] Man. I have a lot of stories I could tell you about Houston. We used to get here early for the Art Car Rothko Chapel, get completely lost in the freeway trying to leave. I just unearthed a piece of my own pathology. Peter was sitting there, looking at me, and I was like, ah, fuck, I fucked up, I did something wrong. So I go over to Peter, ask, hey, what's up, what's wrong, and he goes, I lost the one. (Up the Wolves)
- JD: Matt, are you ready to play some saxophone? Jon Wurster?
Wurster: Uh, yes.
JD: Are you ready to tell the world?
Wurster: I am ready to shout to the world.
JD: The sad but true story of two fellas who are dead before you meet 'em. 'Course I speak to you of the legendary, entirely forgotten, hermanos Díaz. The Diaz Brothers. (The Diaz Brothers)
- UNTRANSCRIBED: No Children
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