This Week's Shows (Shaky Knees Edition)

So this is it - Shaky Knees week, time for the fourth edition of Atlanta's annual indie and alt-rock festival.  There's only a handful of other shows this week as most clubs and venues aren't even trying to compete, and others are hosting official Shaky Knees Late-Night Shows.  We've listed a few of those other shows that are happening this week, but most of this post consists of our picks for Shaky Knees - it's not meant to be a comprehensive guide but just one fan's strategy to get through the five stages and three days of music.  Your preferences, we're sure, will differ.

As always, please keep in mind that musicians and night-club proprietors lead complicated lives and I'm prone to errors, mistakes, typos, and fubars; it's advisable to confirm any of the information below on your own before making plans.

MONDAY, MAY 9

Dead Meadow, Reverends, Midnight Larks (The Earl)

Dead Meadow are critically praised hard rockers who blend Black Sabbath riffs and dreamy layers of guitar-fuzz bliss with singer Jason Simon's high-pitched melodic croon.

TUESDAY, MAY 10

Uncle Van & The Buzzards of Fuzz, Blue Tower, Bleach Garden, '94 Broncos (529)

Atlanta's Uncle Van and the Buzzards of Fuzz refuse to let rock and roll die with their fuzzed-out psychedelic tunes and gritty, lo-fi aesthetic.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 11

Born Ruffians, On An On (Aisle 5)

Born Ruffians are a clever and tuneful Canadian indie rock band fuses hooky guitar jangle with moody, folk-influenced melodies.  Minneapolis' On An On consists of former Scattered Trees members Nate Eiesland, Alissa Ricci and Ryne Estwing.

Born Ruffians at The Earl, April 24, 2013

On An On at The Drunken Unicorn, April 10, 2013

Collective Soul (Music Room at Smith's Olde Bar)

First of two sold-out nights where Georgia-based post-grunge band Collective Soul, who rode strong hooks to the charts in the '90s and beyond, will be filming a live documentary.

THURSDAY, MAY 12

Maya, Kudzu Kids, Pallow (The Earl)

Maya are three "psychedelic punk musicians from Atlanta, GA with some sonic finesse for your entertainment."

Dromez, Filth, Ironing, Dux (Mammal Gallery)

Four industrial/noise bands for your mid-week entertainment.

Collective Soul (Music Room at Smith's Olde Bar)

Second of two sold-out nights where Collective Soul will be filming a live documentary.

FRIDAY, MAY 13

Beach Slang (12:30-1:00, Shaky Knees)

Beach Slang are a punky indie rock trio from Philadelphia heavily influenced by the Replacements. Those of you without Shaky Knees tickets can still catch them at a Shaky Knees Late Night Show at The Earl on Friday night.

Saintseneca (1:00-1:45, Shaky Knees)

Ever-evolving group from Ohio that began as a folk band, but evolved to become a mercurial folk-rock ensemble,  melding folk music from Appalachian and international traditions to postmodern pop and acoustically driven indie rock.

Kaleo (1:45-2:30, Shaky Knees)

Kaleo are an indie folk-rock quartet from Mosfellsbær, Iceland. we've never heard them before, but their video on the Shaky Knees web site sounds promising.

The Front Bottoms (2:30-3:15, Shaky Knees)

This eclectic indie rock duo from New Jersey blend punk, pop, and rock with witty, surreal lyrics, and are probably worth the long walk to the far-distant Boulevard Stage.  Or we could always break for lunch. 

Wolf Alice (3:15-4:15, Shaky Knees)

Led by vocalist Ellie Rowsell, this North London act mixes folk and electronic elements with vintage '90s indie rock.

Crystal Fighters (4:15-5:15, Shaky Knees)

Spain's Crystal Fighters, a folktronic band that combines Basque folk instruments with drum loops, heavy synth, and lilting vocals, were formed after singer Laure recovered a diary of her deceased reclusive grandfather while visiting his Basque country home. Inside his notebook was the skeleton of an incomplete opera, whose name the band took as its title.  Those of you without Shaky Knees tickets can catch still Crystal Fighters at a Shaky Knees Late Night Show at Vinyl on Friday night.

Against Me! (5:15-6:15, Shaky Knees)

A onetime solo acoustic act that evolved into a full-fledged old-school punk band by 2007.  More changes followed a May 2012 interview with Rolling Stone, when lead singer Tom Gabel announced his gender dysphoria, plans to transition to living as a woman, and assumption of the name Laura Jane Grace. Against Me! release their album Transgender Dysphoria Blues in 2012.  On the other hand, nothing against the transgender issue (good for her!), but I've never been a big fan of their music, so this might be a good time to get some refreshments and find a good vantage spot for Savage's set.

Savages (6:15-7:15, Shaky Knees)
OMG, Savages.  The British all-female post-punk quartet plays its own brand of noisy, blistering music.  A festival highlight, in my opinion.

Bloc Party (7:15-8:15, Shaky Knees)

A chance to finally see one of my favorite bands of 2005, an ambitious and eclectic art punk quartet based in London that mixes angular, percussive tracks with edgy pop and atmospheric ballads.  One more to check off the bucket list.

The Kills (8:15-9:30, Shaky Knees)

The Anglo-American duo of Alison Mosshart, formerly of the Florida punk band Discount, and drummer/guitarist/vocalist Jamie Hince, plays fiery garage rock with blues grit, new wave cool, and loads of feedback.

The Kills at Crystal Ballroom, MFNW (RIP), 2011

Jane's Addiction (9:30-11:00, Shaky Knees)

Innovative rockers led by Perry Farrell, who united hard rock and alternative in the late '80s with their critically acclaimed work and who pretty much invented the DIY festival with their Lollapalooza shows.

SATURDAY, MAY 14

Speedy Ortiz, Charlie Hilton (529)

In the best non-Shaky Knees show of the weekend, the Massachusetts quartet Speedy Ortiz combine creative songwriting, quirky time signatures, and all the brash artiness of '90s indie rock, led by singer/guitarist Sadie Dupuis.  Opener Charlie Hilton was the frontman of the band Blouse.  If you don't have tickets to Shaky Knees and for some reason don't want to go to one of the official Late Night Shows, then by all means go to 529 to see Speedy Ortiz up close and personal in the intimate confines of 529.

Speedy Ortiz at Shaky Knees, 2015

Son Little (12:50-1:15, Shaky Knees)

If we don't wind up oversleeping and getting to the festival late on Saturday, we can catch Aaron Livingston, the potent and deeply personal soul/R&B collaborator with Roots and Rjd2.

Strand of Oaks (1:15-2:00, Shaky Knees)

Strand of Oaks is an Indiana-based band that specializes in bold and anthemic indie-Americana that draws from classic rock and folk.  We missed them last year when they played The Earl, so this is a good chance to make up for what we missed.

Drew Holcombe & The Neighbors (2:00-2:45, Shaky Knees)

Drew Holcomb is an earnest songwriter. That’s his strength, and his somewhat melancholy tenor voice -- which can get husky and smoky when he needs it to -- makes everything seem intimate and urgent. Holcomb and his band, the Neighbors, work a sort of folky pop-country territory, sounding at times like a muted, less vital Nashville version of Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, and like Petty, Holcomb's lyrics only occasionally match his attitude.

JJ Grey & Mofro (2:45-3:45, Shaky Knees)

Florida band that mixes funk, soul, rock, and blues for a rootsy, swampy sound with a reputation as an exciting live act.

Shakey Graves (3:45-4:45, Shaky Knees)

Shaky Graves is the stage name of Austin-based "hobo folk" singer, songwriter, musician, and actor Alejandro Rose-Garcia.

Deer Tick (4:45-5:45, Shaky Knees)

Veterans of Shaky Knees 2014, Deer Tick are indie roots rockers from Rhode Island, led by the intimate songwriting and ragged but tender vocals of John McCauley.

Deer Tick at Shaky Knees, 2014

Phosphorescent (5:45-6-45, Shaky Knees)

The brainchild of Athens-based singer-songwriter Mathew Houck, Phosphorescent have released a string of critically acclaimed, country-tinged rock albums.  Those of you without Shaky Knees tickets can still catch Phosphorescent at a Shaky Knees Late Night Show at Terminal West on Friday night.

Phosphorescent at Center Stage, January 25, 2014

Silversun Pickups (7:15-8:15, Shaky Knees)

These L.A. alternative rockers have been weaving layered guitars and effects around surging, melodic tunes for years now, but they still get our fists up and pumping every time we hear the violent part of Lazy Eye.  Those of you without Shaky Knees tickets can still catch the Silversuns at a Shaky Knees Late Night Show at Center Stage on Friday night.  However, this might also be a good time to take advantage of all the Dads over at the Peachtree Stage watching Huey Lewis and the News, and sneak over to the Ponce Stage to get a good spot for The Decemberists. 

Silversun Pickups at MFNW (RIP) 2012 

The Decemberists (7:45-9:00, Shaky Knees)

There's a time overlap between The Silversun's set and this, so some hard choices have to be made, but we're intent on catching this sophisticated yet folk-tinged indie pop band from Portland with a hyperliterate edge provided by vocalist Colin Meloy. These American treasures show what the presence of something like Powell's Book Store can do to a city's music scene.

The Decemberists at Variety Playhouse, April 11, 2015

My Morning Jacket (9:00-11:00, Shaky Knees)

My Morning Jacket are a revered Kentucky combo that stands halfway between indie rock and alt-country, combining twangy, rural sounds with a thick rock onslaught, and a jam-band approach to live sets.  The opportunity to catch back-to-back sets by The Decemberists and MMJ is one of the main reasons to attend this year's Shaky Knees.

My Morning Jacket at McMenamins Edgefield, October 2012

SUNDAY, MAY 15

Julien Baker (12:00-12:45, Shaky Knees)

A cruel lineup choice:  the festival planners are forcing us to choose between Brooklyn's Caveman and Memphis' Julien Baker for the Sunday opener, not even letting us consider sleeping in on the morning.  I'm not sure how Baker's sensitive and emotional ballads, which span a shaky middle ground between heart-wrenching and cathartic, will hold up in a festival setting, but that's part of the reason for picking her set over Caveman's.

Julien Baker at Aisle 5, January 29, 2016

Ought (12:45-1:30, Shaky Knees)

This Montreal-based, hyperliterate, occasionally Fall-esque indie quartet merges the frenetic energy of dance party pop with the politics and urgency of the D.I.Y. scene, and is fast becoming one of our favorites, so we're looking forward to catching this early Shaky Knees set.

Murder By Death (1:30-2:15, Shaky Knees)

Shadowy and narrative indie rock band blending plaintive Americana and rootsy folk influences, Murder By Death feature a female cellist, so you have to love that.  Those of you without Shaky Knees tickets can still catch the band at a Shaky Knees Late Night Show at Vinyl on Saturday night.

Murder By Death at MFNW (RIP) 2013

Frightened Rabbit (2:15-3:15, Shaky Knees)

Scottish indie rockers marked by sparse arrangements and the plaintive singing of Scott Hutchinson. Those of you without Shaky Knees tickets can catch Frightened Rabbit (with Caveman!) at a Shaky Knees Late Night Show at Terminal West Saturday night.

Parquet Courts  (3:15-4:15, Shaky Knees)

Another cruel lineup choice, with Parquet Courts on at the same time as Unknown Mortal Orchestra. Even though it's been sounding like UMO is playing at the top of their form lately, I can't resist the idea of a day with sets by both Ought and Parquet Courts. Spinning off from Fergus & Geronimo, Brooklyn-based Texas expats Parquet Courts makes a jaggedly noisy sound they dub "Americana punk." Those of you without Shaky Knees tickets can still catch Parquet Courts at a Shaky Knees Late Night Show at The Earl on Saturday night.

Parquet Courts at The Earl, January 29, 2015

St. Paul & The Broken Bones (4:15-5:15, Shaky Knees)

St. Paul & The Broken Bones are a tight sextet with a gospel-tinged neo-soul garage sound complete with horns and a dynamic lead singer who can sound just like Otis Redding when he wants to.

St. Paul & The Broken Bones at Egyptian Ballroom, December 27, 2014

The Black  Angels (5:15-6:15, Shaky Knees)

Shoe-gazer swirliness and old-fashioned psychedelia meet in Texas-based Black Angels' music.  We haven't seen these guys live in over 5 years now.

Black Angels at The Earl, November 14, 2010 

The Head & The Heart (6:15-7:15, Shaky Knees)

The Head & The Heart are a Seattle-based group whose music splits the difference between acoustic folk, Americana, and pop. After the pretentiousness of their show at The Buckhead Theater, we vowed we had gone to our last THATH show, but what else am we going to do at this hour, go watch The Deftones?

The Head & The Heart at Buckhead Theater, November 12, 2013

Explosions In The Sky (7:15-8:30, Shaky Knees)

Explosions In The Sky are a popular Austin-based instrumental post-rock quartet known for moody, cinematic compositions drawing from a number of sonic sources. Those of you without Shaky Knees tickets might still be able to catch EITS at a Shaky Knees Late Night Show at Variety Playhouse on Saturday night, provided you already have tickets to the sold-out show.

Explosions In The Sky at The Tabernacle, September 29, 2011

Florence + The Machine (8:30-10:00, Shaky Knees)

Hailing from South London, Florence Welch writes songs that occupy the same confessional territory as gossip-loving, genre-bending contemporaries like Amy Winehouse, Kate Nash, Adele, and Lily Allen and the moody, classic art rock of Kate Bush, blending pop, soul, and Baroque arrangements into a sound that has earned the young artist considerable buzz.

The Decemberists at The Tabernacle, Atlanta - April 10, 2015

Where do I even start?  I'll say right from the outset that this was one of the best shows ever.  I've wanted to see The Decemberists for years, but ironically, the last time they played Atlanta (actually, the misbegotten, suburban Cobb Energy Center), I was in their hometown of Portland, Oregon for MFNW (RIP).  Our paths have managed to miss each other ever since, and then the band took a hiatus for a couple years.  I managed to catch most of the members performing as Black Prairie at Eddie's Attic during that hiatus, and saw frontman Colin Meloy perform a set of Decemberist songs at Variety Playhouse, but seeing them all together was one of my "bucket list" wishes, one that was finally granted last night.  

It was worth the wait.  

That's the positive way to begin.  Here's the negative:  the 60 or 90 or so minutes before the show began were some of the most miserable of this still young year.  Everything was fine until about 6:30 pm when I stepped out of an Arden's Garden store with a fresh smoothie in hand and into one of the most intense downpours I can remember.  I got totally soaked running the 15 or so feet from the store's door to my car, and when I got home, of course the electricity was out (a tree fell on Collier Road during the downpour).  I changed my clothes in the near dark, managed to find my ticket, and headed toward the Tabernacle, only to get stuck in gridlocked downtown traffic.  I don't know what else was going on in town last night (there was a Braves' game, but I was on the opposite side of town from the stadium),  but the cars were simply not  moving.  The traffic light in front of me changed about a half dozen times, but not one car managed to make it through.  I finally managed to make a U-turn out of the line of cars and drive around in only slightly better downtown traffic until I finally found a parking garage several blocks away from where I wanted to be, but I pulled in anyway figuring I was better off on foot than in that gridlock.

Even Molly Rankin, frontwoman for show-opener Alvvays, asked the audience what was up with people from Atlanta just leaving their cars in lanes of traffic, backing everything up.  

We've seen Toronto's Alvvays once before, opening for Yuck at The Earl.  This, obviously, was a far larger venue for the band, and they filled the stage nicely, seeming not just comfortable but downright accustomed to playing before such a large crowd.  

For some reason, the Tabernacle backlit Alvvays' entire performance with purple lights aimed at the audience which, in combo with the post-deluge humidity, cast a haze over the stage making normal photography nearly impossible (even with my brand-new iPhone 6). 

Lighting was better for The Decemberists - in fact, the stage set was downright lovely.   The backdrop was the cover of their new album, What A Terrible World, What A Beautiful World, and just by subtle manipulations of the light, different dominant colors emerged from the quilt-like backdrop and onto the performers themselves.

The show opened with Meloy on stage alone, performing the new album's opener The Singer Addresses His Audience.  By the time he  got to the first chorus, he was jointed on stage by backup singers Rachel Flotard and our old friend Kelly Hogan (familiar to many as Neko Case's supporting vocalist and on-stage foil).  The rest of the band came on stage at various moments, bringing the song to a joyful climax not hinted at on the album version.

What A Terrible World is not The Decemberists' best album, but it's been growing on me with each successive listen.  However, any concerns that the band was only going to play songs from the new album were quickly dispelled when they launched into back-to-back renditions of Down By The Water and Calamity Song from 2011's The King Is Dead, and the remaining set included songs from nearly every phase of the band's long history, even going back to Here I Dreamt I Was An Architect from 2002's Castaways and Cutouts. 

A sure sign that you're in the hands of a great band is when you find yourself thinking "This is my favorite song of theirs" over and over again as each successive song kicks off.  Almost the entire night was like that for me.

Those "this-is-their-best-song" moments may have been frequent, but one of the stand-out moments was their performance of The Wanting Comes In Waves/Repaid from 2009's The Hazards of Love, followed immediately by an appropriately  raucous and rousing version of The Rake's Song.

The most notable aspect of the recorded version of The Wanting Comes In Waves is of course Shara Worden's guest vocals, and backup singer Rachel Flotard absolutely nailed it.  Worden left some pretty big shoes to fill with her powerful singing in the role as The Forest Queen, but Flotard managed to not only fill those shoes, but deliver a live performance that was almost indistinguishable from Worden's recorded version.  I doubt I was the only one with goose-bumps on my arms during the song. 

There were almost too many such stand-out moments to recall, but other highlights included 16 Military Wives, Make You Better, and Los Angeles I'm Yours.  Meloy announced early in the show that the set would by "a journey" by both band and audience, and the nearly 90-minute show felt exactly like that.

To my surprise, the band didn't perform Lake Song, the stand-out song from their What A Terrible World.  I also kept waiting to hear the opening to June Hymn from The King Is Dead, but never did. These are not complaints, though - it's always best for artists to leave their audience wanting a little more.  

Hilariously, during the encore-ending Mariner's Revenge Song, Hogan and Flotard carried a huge puppet whale onto the stage, which ate all the band except Meloy, the song's narrator.  The song also featured audience participation (a timed scream at the appearance of the whale), lots of  hammy, campy mugging by the band, and a joyous, rocking finale to close out the evening.  

The electricity was still out at my house when I got home, so I headed back out to a local dive bar and watched the 10 extra innings of the 19-inning marathon Red Sox/Yankees baseball game until well after 2 a.m.  The Red Sox won with a Mookie Betts fly ball, capping off a terrific evening that started horribly but wound up ending triumphantly.  And when I got back home again from watching the game, the electricity was finally back on.   

But here's the best part: last night was only the first of a two-night stand, and I get to experience The Decemberists' show again tonight!

Archie, Marry Me (Cover)

Ben Gibbard (Death Cab For Cutie) covering Alvvays, who will be opening for The Decemberists in April, and who opened for Yuck at The Earl back in February of last year.

Also, Ben Gibbard.

Alvvays & The Decemberists

Good stuff just keeps getting better: The Decemberists drop another song from their new album and meanwhile it's been announced that the Toronto band Alvvays will be opening on both nights of The Decemberists' two-night stand at The Tabernacle in Atlanta.

Alvvays opening for Yuck at The Earl, February 2014

The Decemberists' new What A Terrible World, What A Beautiful World came out a little late this year to make most critics Best Of lists, but Alvvays' Archie, Marry Me is on a lot of Top 20 lists for 2014.

Lake Song

Only 128 more shopping days until The Decemberists two-night stand at The Tabernacle. . . 

Colin Meloy & Eleanor Friedberger at Variety Playhouse, Atlanta, 11/8/2013

Rocktober 2013 refuses to end.  While Halloween night's double feature of The Orb at Vinyl and Chelsea Light Moving at The Earl might have seemed like a fitting finale to Rocktober, since then we've had Thee Oh Sees at Terminal West (11/2), CocoRosie at Variety Playhouse (11/5), and last night, the highly anticipated Eleanor Friedberger and Colin Meloy concert at the Playhouse.

Eleanor Friedberger started the show at 8:30 sharp, taking the stage wearing a slinky, cosmic-patterned dress with matching stockings and, as always, the coolest bangs in rock 'n' roll.  

We've seen Eleanor perform before, at MFNW 2011 when she opened for The Kills and at The Basement at Graveyard Tavern when she opened for Hospitality.  Howwever, we've not yet seen her with her main band, The Fiery Furnaces, even though, as she said on stage last night, they've played Atlanta lots of times before. 

This was quite a different performance that the previous times we've seen her, however,as she had been supported by a  band during those other sets, while last night she performed solo, sitting on a chair and playing electric guitar.  She cranked up the reverb on most of the songs, giving her set more of a rock that a folk sound, but with her interesting songs and clever lyrics, her set clearly fit into the singer/songwriter category. 

Most of her songs last night were naturally from her newest album, Personal Record, including Stare At The Sun, Other Boys, and When I Knew, but she also threw in at least one Fiery Furnaces song, and concluded her set with an old favorite, My Mistakes.   

In all, although her set went on for well over a half-hour, it seemed far too short, leaving most of the audience and I calling for more.  Of course, as the opener, she couldn't play an encore, but we got over it pretty quickly upon remembering that The Decemberists' frontman, Colin Meloy, would be taking the stage next. 

Meloy took the stage wearing a red flannel shirt, strapped on a harmonica holder, and started playing.  Even though it was just his voice and an acoustic guitar (which he changed many times during the set), the rich expressiveness of his voice and the quality of his songwriting made up for any potential limitations of the instrumentation.

He played songs from throughout the Decemberists' career, including many from their most recent record, 2011's The King Is Dead, notably that album's opener Don't Carry It All as the second song of his set. Other King Is Dead songs included Down By The Water, Dear Avery, and the apocalyptic Calamity Song (which hilariously started as something called Hank, Eat Your Oatmeal).  Speaking of Calamity Song, it got me to wondering who has produced the greatest tennis-themed video, The Decemberists, who based their video on David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest, or Courtney Barnett, based on her witty song Avant Gardener?

Meloy recorded a new EP of covers of Kinks songs just for this tour.  Last night, he performed Do You Remember Walter? from The Village Green Preservation Society.  Interestingly, the song seemed to fit him like a glove, one of the cleverest lyricists west of the Atlantic singing the words of one of the cleverest lyricists east of the pond.

There were more set highlights than I can even remember - in fact, it often felt that every song, even the couple of new songs thrown into the set, was a highlight - but I will single out Margaret In the Tiaga from The Hazards of Love, with Meloy singing both the male and female lines; Los Angeles I'm Yours from Her Majesty; and The Engine Driver from Picaresque, with the audience singing along the poignant refrain "And if you don't love me let me go."  In fact, there was a lot of singing along, including the wordless "A-woo" of The Calamity Song, and Meloy masterfully led the audience participation, frequently referring to the evening as a "campfire sing-along."  

For his encore, Meloy sang all three parts of The Crane Wife (Parts 1, 2, and 3).

It was a very special, joyful evening, and Meloy genuinely seems to be one of the nicest, must likable guys in indie rock (which has no shortage of nice, likable guys).  'Frinstance, during The Calamity Song singalong, after we all sang the line, "Hetty Green, queen of supply-side bonhomie bone-drab," a woman remarked, "Whatever that means," and Meloy, smiling, nodded to her while singing the next line, "You know what I mean," in a way that made it seem like a personal response to her remark.

Unfortunately, I have not yet had the opportunity to see The Decemberists perform live (despite three separate week-long trips to the Northwest for music festivals), but between last night's show by Colin Meloy and last September's set by Black Prairie, I feel like I've at least come close to the experience.

Black Prairie Redux (with some dude singing)

So is this Colin Meloy backed by most of Black Prairie and featuring Laura Veirs, or is this Black Prairie with Meloy and Veirs, or is this The Decemberists with Veirs, or does this even matter? 

The Newport Folk Festival, July 2013.

Black Prairie - Eddie's Attic, Decatur, Georgia, 9/17/13

Black Prairie is a six-piece bluegrass and Americana-influenced band from Portland, Oregon, consisting of four-fifths of The Decemberists (basically, The Decemberists without frontman Colin Meloy), plus violinist and singer Annalisa Tornfelt of the bands Bearfoot and The Woolwines and guitarist Jon Neufeld of Dolorean and Jackstraw.  Last night, they played at Decatur, Georgia's Eddie's Attic.

It was a wonderful, almost magical, performance.  Between their bluegrass sound, their Balkan-influenced, gypsy instrumentals, and heartfelt songs, they were consistently innovative and surprising, even after accordionist Jenny Conlee revealed the set's blueprint early in the show by announcing that they would be playing fast songs followed by slow songs.

Highlights, and there were many, include Annalisa's performances on a Romanian Stroh violin, a violin that amplifies its sound through a metal horn rather than a wooden sound box as on a standard violin, and multi-instrumentalist Chris Funk's contributions on banjo and dobro.  Jenny Conlee was a warm and captivating performer, as always.   

Here's a relatively recent performance that captures their sound pretty well:

And since Annalisa said the video shot by the Skidmore Fountain with passing trains was her favorite, here that is as well:

Like many bands, they included an ironic cover in their set, performing Kansas' Carry On Wayward Son as their encore closer, with Annalisa belting out the sustained high notes at the end in show-stopping fashion. 

It's hard for me to accept, but despite all the time I spent in Portland back in '07 and '08, and despite attending three consecutive MFNWs in Portland between 2011 and 2013 and three Bumbershoots in Seattle the same years, I still haven't seen The Decemberists perform live.  Seeing four-fifths of the band last night was pretty damn close, and early this month during Day Two of MFNW, I saw Decemberist and Black Prairie drummer John Moen playing guitar and singing as the co-frontman of the new band Eyelids.  

Decemberist frontman Colin Meloy is on tour and will be playing Variety Playhouse in November - seeing him play then, in addition to my Black Prairie experience, may qualify as finally having seen The Decemberists, even if not altogether at once. 

Decemberists

This may not last for long, but here are The Decemberists performing on Austin City Limits.