Image by Kirstie Shanley
An orch-pop summersong
The Decemberists culminate a concert-hall tour with Chicago orchestra
By Catherine Disabato
Published: July 25th, 2007 | 11:52am
July 18, 2007, in Chicago — Between playing “The Infanta,” and “We Both Go Down Together,” Colin Meloy — singer-guitarist for the biggest current orchestral-pop band, the Decemberists — gestured to the full orchestra behind him at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park, and joked that the Decemberists have often tried to invoke the feel of an orchestra with one or two band members playing multiple instruments in the studio. The Decemberists are known for their inventive live performances, during which they often act out the fantastic stories in Meloy’s lyrics, even going as far as to bring a giant papier-mâché whale on stage during “The Mariner’s Revenge Song.” Their newest idea was to embark on a concert-hall tour, complimenting their lush orchestral sound with full orchestras from around the country, and culminating in a show with the Grant Park Orchestra.
Realizing that the free concert would likely reach its 15,000 capacity before the Decemberists took the stage at 6:30 p.m., showgoers arrived as early as noon to wait in line for the coveted pavilion seating. Just before the Decemberists took the stage, the lawn was packed, the free pavilion seating was filled to the brim, and the lower pavilion seating, reserved for concert-series ticket holders, was filled with a bizarre mixture of adamant fans who managed to get their hands on tickets and an over-30 crowd of classical music lovers. Needless to say, the tone of concert from 11 rows back was one of the more interesting aspects of attending.
The Decemberists took the stage as the Grant Park Orchestra began to tune its instruments, and while the ticket holders clapped politely, the indie kids roared. The sight of the Decemberists in front of the orchestra was an amazing one: Meloy gripped his acoustic guitar to his chest with one hand and waved to the crowd with another, Jenny Conlee blended in with the orchestra when she sat behind her keyboard, and bassist Nate Query and guitarist Chris Funk looked gleefully out of place in front of the violins and upright basses. The day’s heat finally broke as it started to rain, just as Meloy introduced the band.
Some of the Decemberists songs were simple guitar-bass-keyboard tracks, and others are just begging for full orchestral accompaniment. The set list was, of course, filled with the latter. Some worked out extremely well, others fell short. The already orch-heavy “The Infanta” soared under the nimble fingers of the Grant Park Orchestra. The song was bolstered to dizzying heights under the added instrumentation.
“Odalisque,” a small acoustic guitar and accordion piece on 2002’s Castaways and Cutouts, made it seem out of place in a set list full of heavy-hitters, but it was actually one of the most interesting live songs because it allowed for some creative and surprising accompaniment from the orchestra. The biggest problem with the orchestra was that the Decemberists’ instrumentation — with the exception of Meloy’s expressive voice — was sometimes swallowed under their weight, as surely as the protagonist in “The Mariner’s Revenge Song” was swallowed by a giant whale. And though it was fun to see the Decemberists perform that song alone, it would’ve been amazing to hear the sprawling, dynamic “Mariner’s Revenge Song” with the orchestra behind them.
The Decemberists treated the concert like a big, strangely located rock show — they rolled on the ground, did abbreviated versions of their usual lyrics-based performances, and called to the audience for applause and approval. During the first of the Decemberists-only songs, “The Perfect Crime No. 2,” Meloy leapt from the stage and ran through the aisles to the upper pavilion where his true fans sat. These antics sent some of the classical music fans running. Others decided to stick it out among with the kids, some looked positively gleeful with the change of pace that the rocknroll high jinks provided.
The audience was even granted an encore, though it was even less of a surprise than usual because the encore songs were included in the set list published in the program. After “I Was Meant for the Stage,” the orchestra shuffled off to much applause. Meloy beckoned all the fans seated in the back of the pavilion into the aisles, and the guards allowed them into the ticket area and down to the stage. With kids squeezed in together like toothpaste in its tube, the Decemberists played “16 Military Wives” and “The Mariner’s Revenge Song,” on their own, leading into them with a brief, partial cover of the Smiths’ “Ask.” Then, they left through the same doors the orchestra had, with their fans still screaming.
Though the mismatch in tone negatively effected portions of the Decemberists’ performance, it was the great moments — the soaring flutes in “Odalisque,” the rush of fans toward the stage for the encore — that really defined the show, and made it one of the most interesting concerts in Chicago’s overbooked summer season.
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Issue #35
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