The Decemberists: And I Will Hang My Head Low ...

Before leaving for Tower Theater in Upper Darby, PA, I couldn’t help but feel a twinge of regret over buying concert tickets for a weeknight (yes, I’m that wild). But I quickly shooed my hesitation away because it was, after all, for THE DECEMBERISTS.

Before I continue, I have to thank Miss JL for introducing me to my current favorite band, The Decemberists, whom she put on one of many beloved mixed CDs. So, thank you.

I had never been to the Tower Theater, but I knew I was in the right place when I saw tight-T-shirted, thick-rimmed bespectacled, tousled-haired emo rockers milling around a barricaded corner. These strangers, as I would soon find out, formed one of the best concert crowds I would ever have the pleasure of standing with.

After purchasing a T-shirt (red with bicycle icon) and grabbing a Dixie-cup’s worth of Yuengling, I headed to my seat on the orchestra level of the Broadway-esque theater. Just as I settled in, Colin Meloy, frontman for the Portland band, strapped on his ukelele for a lovely opening of The Crane Wife. The next few songs came from previous albums, including The Infanta from Picaresque (excellent, excellent drumming by John Moen) and The Legionnaire’s Lament from Castaways and Cutouts. Sometime during this stretch, Meloy complimented the audience on how well seated we were – and though my feet were itching to dance, or at least shuffle, I didn’t want to be ‘that one’ who stood up while everyone else was, well, sitting.

It was O Valencia! that finally roused the crowd to its feet, where it remained for the rest of the night, much to Jenny Conlee’s (keyboardist, accordion player) relief. In accordance, the energy level in the Tower magnified as did the laughs and general silliness. During one interlude, Meloy instructed those along the aisle to shake hands with the person across the way … then to size that person up (make sure to look at his shoes!) … then to ever-so-slowly but ever-so-menacingly sneer at him. Yes, sneer. I couldn’t see anyone doing it since I was across from a wall, but I was laughing. And so was everyone else.

The big crowd-pleaser was 16 Military Wives, an already fun song made even more so by a rollicking chorus of “La dee da dee da dee diddy diddy dah!” sung by none other than yours truly and every other voice in the sold-out theater. Yes, even the bald, stoic, I-got-dragged-here-by-my-girlfriend guy next to my friend cracked a smile.

The repertoire eventually swung back to tunes from The Decemberists’ latest album The Crane Wife. Much to my rejoice, one of these was The Island, my personal favorite, a thirteen minute masterpiece that moves from bass-y beats to twang-y ballad, from anxious modulation and increased tempo to lilting lullaby. Meloy surrendered his acoustic for the last time (for now) for an electric in the closing song, When The War Came, an amp-y rock-out song full of distortion and general head tossing.

By this time, the crowd was jazzed and we couldn’t wait for the encore, the cherry on top. And as expected, The Decemberists delivered. It was The Mariner’s Revenge Song, a story of a boy who grows up to avenge his mother who was wronged by a wanton, gambling man. At one point, a whale attacks the ship that the two men are on and lo and behold! a giant paper-mache whale swims onstage and proceeds to ‘eat’ all the band members as the audience erupts in coordinated screams. Oh such fun!

The Decemberists’s last goodbye was a melancholy serenade of Southern Girls a la Meloy, a ballad version of the Cheap Trick original (I knew that acoustic had to make one last showing).

O Valencia! O The Decemberists! “You rock me and you’re crazy and everyone says it, yeah yeah.” A+, I say.