= Such Stupid Things =

The Decemberists put on a great show at the Warfield last night. There are a few musical instruments for which I'm a huge sucker: accordion, banjo, xylophone and viola are a few. So when they're all incorporated into a single rock concert I'm pretty much on cloud nine. (In fact, there were two accordians. "Quite a find".) Anyhow, if you haven't heard the Crane Wife, you should really do yourself a favor and pick up a copy. Make sure you find one with the two bonus tracks, "After the Bombs" and "Culling of the Fold". They played both at the show, and they were both top-notch - "Culling..." in particular, largely due to its subject matter. It's a rare gem that can be this violent and remain infectiously catchy. This guy has the mp3s, if (like me) you naively purchased the standard, ten-track copy.

Though the evening's downside was that never have I felt older at a concert than I did last night. To be fair, I was older at this particular concert than I had ever been before, but still. The crowd was filled with an unnerving number of what could only be area high school students. After the show, as these kids piled back into the BART, no-doubt bound for Walnut Creek, I felt a strong urge to go get drunk, just so that my evening would be a little different than theirs had been. Happily, this modest goal was achieved.