Dennis Kucinich Campaign Headquarters (on Mission Street) February 11, 2004 Review by Jake Thomas There’s been plenty of talk amongst some of my friends about how awesome it would be for shows to have earlier start times; I’m sure it’s just the old age talking, but staying up late and then getting up early for work doesn’t hold nearly the appeal it once did. Well this show grabbed that concept and took it the extreme! Mountain Goats started playing at 3:30…even the toddlers could make it out for the revelry and whimsy! No, no, it wasn’t like that all; rather it was a last-minute free performance at the Dennis Kucinich HQ in support of getting the kids out to vote (at least I took that as the reason it happened – I’m unsure if this was the actual case). I used it as an excuse to leave work early, since I had missed his show the night before at Café du Nord and wasn’t going to be making the one at Mills College that night. I’ve seen the Mountain Goats a number of times, and this was probably the best show I’ve ever seen by him, and it had everything to do with the intimacy of the event. There were probably 50-75 folks there, mostly kids, and we all huddled up around the small stage, sitting in chairs and on cushions and on the cold, hard floor (I think you can guess where I was sitting). Mr. Goat himself, John Darnielle, proceeded to play his abbreviated set sitting cross legged on the riser with guitar in hand, no microphone or PA to be seen. I t had a very summer camp feel to it, everyone huddled in close to listen to this extremely talented man play his quirky folk songs. He didn’t play any of the songs I wanted to hear the most, but no matter – in this setting he could have played most anything, maybe even an entire set of Bette Midler songs, and I would have sat there rapt with attention. Now if I could only see all of my favorite bands this way… --- Read our previous Mountain Goats reviews: Review - Bottom of the Hill, March 2 , 2002 Review - Bottom of the Hill, October 23, 2002 Review - Bottom of the Hill, September 17, 2000 ©2004 playinginfog.com |