The Decemberists Live – Hollywood Palladium , May 19, 2009

Watch a little Hazards of Love 4 (The Drowned) first, go ahead, sit back. Grab a cooool beer and listen to the sounds of Heaven:

I don’t mean to sound crude, but I just want to be honest with you, my dear reader. I feel you are mature enough to handle it.

I am 99.99% sure that the “The Decemberists” concert that I attended last night was better than sex. There is the possibility that I am wrong, and the next time I have a roll in the hay I can either confirm or deny this sentiment. But for now, I  will stand by this outrageous and lofty claim.  

I don’t buy concert T-shirts anymore. Ok, I just don’t.As a female, I never find concert shirts to be all that flattering and rarely will I actually utilize the shirt and justify the $25 dollars I spent due to a fleeting surge of enthusism I had for the band post-show. At a certain point in college, I thought it foolish to spend the money and simply stopped doing so. A poster, sure. A CD, yes. But a T-shirt, nope. It would only end up in my over crowded bottom drawer with other concert shirts, running shirts, and shirts from places like Branson, Missouri (seriously, I have one). In other words, shirts I may occasionally utlize for pajama’s or dusting off my computer screen. 

But last night, I did it. I bought at T-shirt from “The Decemberists” Hazards of Love Tour. It fits quite alright actually, but more importantly I am so satisfied by the live performance I witnessed last night that I had to boast my attendence to strangers and friends by wearing the shirt around today. I want people to walk up to me and say “HEY! Nice shirt! I love that band!’ And I will proclaim, “WELL! YOU BETTER! And I was at the show last night, and it was amazing, and you are a fool if you missed it.” 

 

Concert T-Shirt

There’s a little proof that I did indeed buy said T-shirt. 

I am blabbing away about this piece of cotton that I am wearing simply to emphasize how amazing this show was. Seeing “The Hazards of Love” preformed in its entirety live was epic.  I was in a group of 5 girls, and we all outrageously sung along to the music (and shouted obscene things at Meloy such as “Marry Me!!!! NOW!!!!”) and celebrated the very fact that we were experiencing the show! And I thought that this was all they were going to play, but NO! Then then returned to the stage to play some older songs which included “Los Angeles, I’m Yours!”, “I Was Meant for The Stage”, “July! July!”, and many many fantastic others. It was a night that left my body feeling like it was vibrating with energy and a smile didn’t leave my face until I had to fall asleep that night. 

If you didn’t make it to this show, or this part of the tour, I highly suggest you catch them in November. In Los Angeles they will be playing The Wiltern. If you are a fan of music, Go! You will not regret it. 

* Special Note *After years of serious debate and thought, I finally came to the conclusion last night (a tough decision for me) that in the ultimate indie man Battle Royale, Colin Meloy vs Ben Gibbard, that Mr. Meloy is crowned King. He officially reigns supreme in the Kingdom of Awesome.  Let’s face it, as much as I love Death Cab and Mr. Gibbard, The Decemberists are simply more musically talented, and of recent years been a bit more imaginative with their music.  “Hazards of Love” may not be everyone’s cup of tea (though it is mine), but it was a bold and respectable move to push their own musical boundaries with this epic concept album.  Also, Mr. Meloy and Company is more entertaining on stage (and I have seen more than a few “Death Cab for Cutie” shows and multiple “The Decemberists” shows), his wife is way cooler than Zooey, and he has a kid named Hank (rad). *