The Decemberists live in Berlin, 30/09/07
(In a desperate attempt to write a review with some kind of wannabe-professional approach, I gave up halfway though because I noticed that it was impossible for me to write about the Decemberists in this neutral, analytical style. I'd seen them twice before, each concert ending in an outburst of enthusiasm and addiction to listen to each of their albums on end. I'm too big a fan of their music to write about their concert as if I was a music journalist. So here comes my second attempt - impressions from the perspective of a dedicated fan.)
The support act, Canadian 3-piece Land of Talk, opened the set with great charm and lovely tunes. As with Two Gallants on their 2005 tour, the Decemberists proved to have a good taste in choosing their support acts. When the Decemberists appeared on the stage, the lights revealed a beautiful illustration by Carson Ellis: a little Japanese village with a crane flying away – actually, a picture from the band's recent LP „The Crane Wife", and a very original visual background for the songs, most of them from this album. The band opened the set with the title song „The Crane Wife 1&2", a song based on a Japanese folk tale and a shining example of Colin Meloy's truly poetic songwriting style.
Without any additional musicians this time, the band still easily managed to transfer the complexity of the songs to a live scene – no wonder with several multi-instrumentalists in the group, especially Chris Funk, who seemed to be able to play every instrument he could get his hands on: guitars, the violin, the banjo, and one bizarre instrument I'd not seen before (this must be a hurdy-gurdy, I guess?). Jenny Conlee on keyboards and accordion - the instrument that makes up a considerable part of the band's unique sound – also had an opportunity to show her singing skills, in „Yankee Bayonet" and the „Mariner's Revenge Song", where she sang the part of the suffering widow with such a melancholic passion that one could think she'd really lived through the story herself. Drummer John Moen also turned out to be a highly gifted singer whose background singing added to the gorgeous melodies, and bassist Nate Query played both bass guitar and upright bass as if it was the easiest, most natural thing in the world. And of course, singer and guitarist Colin Meloy sounded as gorgeous live as he does on the records – he could probably sing to me about anything, and I'd listen patiently, indulging in his melodies and storytelling. Even after having heard the songs very often, they still strike a chord within me, move me – especially when played live. „Eli the Barrow-Boy", for example, one of the most beautiful and sad songs I've heard. Or „O Valencia" from the recent album – at the concert, the song provoked two very strong and very contradictory emotions in me: a deep sadness evoked by the tragic story, and at the same time an incredible euphoria about the music and the joy of being there. It was one of these moments – realising why music means so much to me. And just like the other Decemberists concerts before, this one showed that - apart from their musical and lyrical genius - all the individual band members are unique personalities with a charismatic stage presence and the skill to relate to their audience. So the last song of the regular set - „I Was Meant fot the Stage" - turned out to be more than true once again.
After the last song ended in a massive feedback of noise, the Berlin crowd was still demanding for more – understandably so. The band returned to play two more songs: „Bandit Queen" with Colin alone on acoustic guitar, and finally a Decemberists classic, „The Mariner's Revenge Song". Following a little lecture about marine biology in general and whales in particular, we learned how to scream when swallowed by a whale, in order to provide this special effect at the crucial point in the song, when exactly this happened to our vengeful protagonist. Again I enjoyed the absurd brilliance of the story
(„Don't know how I survived, the crew all was chewed alive, I must have slipped between his teeth. But oh what providence, what divine intelligence, that you should survive as well as me...") and the accordion sound evoking a longing to be at some seaside place. A 'grande finale' to a marvellous concert that filled me with enough enthusiasm and inspiration to last for weeks. I still have these beautiful tunes in my head and I'm already looking forward to the next time the Decemberists return to cloudy Berlin.
