Red Rocks Amphitheater was the place to be on September 28th as Modest Mouse headlined a spectacular billing with Future Islands and Empath.
It was a warm and windy day in Denver for the show but, as anyone who has been to Red Rocks knows, it can get cold pretty quickly after the sun goes down. Tuesday was no exception; however, the energy coming from the stage was more than enough to warm up the crowd.
Sam Herring of Future Islands is well known for his wild stage presence. Since rocketing to stardom after a fateful Letterman late night performance, Herring has brought his smooth dancing and primal growls to adoring audiences night after night. The stage was a bit grander this evening and the band was more than up to task. The band glided through hits like “A Dream of You and Me”, “Balance”, and of course, the crowd pleasing “Seasons (Waiting on You)”. They ended their set with one of their oldest and most tender songs, “Little Dreamer”. In vintage fashion, they added a bit of a grungier take on the ballad, and the sentiment in the lyrics reached new heights.
When Herring and company left the stage, there was a palpable increase in electricity in the crowd. The openers were terrific, but they were here for Modest Mouse. Luckily, the crowd didn’t have to wait long before Isaac Brock and the rest of the band took the stage.
One thing that was immediately obvious was the production value. There was time, money, and effort put into this and it couldn’t have looked more impressive than at this legendary venue. Brock was hitting every note and annunciating every strained syllable in his trademark yelp.
Modest Mouse has so much material, it’s hard to know exactly what to expect from one of their shows. Sure, you’ll get some hits like “Float On”, but so much of their discography is loved by their fans, it’s truly anyone’s guess what will fill the setlist.
Luckily for their diehards, they tried to cover all their bases. There were tunes from EIGHT of their albums. Very impressive. Obviously, their new album accounted for a lot of it, but we were also treated to a few from Good News for People Who Love Bad News, The Moon & Antarctica, and many more.
The night concluded with an amazing four song encore starting with the classic “The World at Large” and ending with “Spitting Venom”. There was a point in the night when I just had to look around and appreciate where I was and what I was listening to. A venue like this, a band like this, a night like this. Doesn’t get much better.
MODEST MOUSE
FUTURE ISLANDS
Photos + Review by Andrew Ameter | Exclusively for Music, Why Not!
