The Mountain Goats have become one of the bands I have obsessed over this past year. I had heard some of Tallahassee but really knew very little else. I really was very late to the party. That is until my friend C began to share her obsession. C has unrivaled taste in music in my opinion and anyone C hails as her "favourite band" must warrant further attention. And with the back catalogue on loan and in my car, I became hooked. The first time I saw 'The Goats' was 8th of September 2010, at the Brudenell Social Club in Leeds, and that was, frankly the final nail in the coffin. I was in love. True, mad adoration, the kind where you have to look up everything about the band, you have to have heard everything they have every played. I'm not ashamed to say I obsessed over John Darinelle (JD to those of us in the club) and spent vast swathes of time wondering how possible it would be to take him up on his offer of a tour round the micro breweries of West Texas.
As you would expect from such a gushing fan girl this is a good review of an amazing live band. JD commands the audience, and even when feeling quite ill as he was on Saturday he managed a 16 song set, with requests, banter and a few tracks in the middle of the set solo, without the rest of the Mountain Goats. The set itself covered most of the Mountain Goats back catalogugue from the 1997 Full Force Galesburg to their most recent offering All Eternals Deck. Perhaps the most special song they played was the following: Minnesota
The Mountain Goats, Minnesota, Live Brudenell Social Club 28th May 2011 by Zi_ish
In addition to this JD played Love, Love, Love and the room stood silent and still. It was wonderful.
The final song and encore consisted of a hearty, raucous rendition of No Children which has always been and will always be my favourite 'Goats' song and finally California Song:
The Mountain Goats, California Song, Live Brudenell Social Club 28th May 2011 by Zi_ish
The only thing the September gig lacked in my opinion was suitable support. Chad Valley in my opinion was just not right. Squeaky and sweaty and just not in keeping with the headline act. However Saturday nights gig put that mishap right. The support act The Submarines deserve a post all of their own. Which they shall have in due course. Needless to say they were fanctastic and really worth looking up!
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