Modest Mouse hit the stage with such a burst of big energy on Saturday night, that it took the mic out for a second. Lead Guitarist Isaac Brock greeted the crowd briefly thanking everyone for coming out. Then, with a smooth transition, he began to play the classic hit “Dramamine” from their first studio album This is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About. As soon as the guitar riff began to play everyone in the audience screamed with excitement. The main event they had been waiting for was here.
With their newest album The Golden Casket, Modest Mouse brings their MMXXI (Roman Numeral 2021) tour and celebrates their 30th anniversary as a band. The album, released on June 25, 2021 and is their first album release in six years. It features 12 songs in just under 51 minutes. Even though the band has had a few member changes over the years the sound was as flawless as you would expect from a band with that much time in.
“Wooden Soldiers” was the first song from the new album that that played for the White Oak crowd. The band was met with a sing along and people swaying in the grass. The night may have started warm, typical for an October in Texas, but the fall breeze made its appearance right as “Ice Cream Party” came to an end.
“How you doing?” Isaac asked the crowd. Then a highly anticipated song “Fire it Up” started and the crowed cheered loud enough to knock an unrespecting bystander down. The voices carried “Fire it up, fire it up when we finally turn it over” into the Houston night air. Everyone was enjoying each other’s company under the city lights. You could feel comfortable despite the large sold out crowd. “Dashboard”, another hit from the 2007 album We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank played as the amazing smoke and light show continued. The vibrate hues of red, purple, and blue made a magical scene on stage.
Other new songs highlighted live that night were “We’re Lucky “and “We Are Between”. The mic seemed to only be clear when a song was being played. Anytime Isaac or Johnny Marr went to address the crowd, it was just a little hard to hear. But that didn’t hinder the free-flowing fun vibe that they brought to the venue. Brock asked the crowed once more “How you doing now?… I do care, I just don’t ask all the time. I don’t want to seem greedy.” Everyone laughed as he took a slight pause and finished with a humorous “I’m just f*cking with y’all.” A Perfect intro for “Bukowski” to start on.
Modest Mouse began their final send by having us visit the 1997 album The Lonesome Crowded West and then flash-forwarding us to a completely different sound in “Never Fuck a Spider On The Fly”, another new song from The Golden Casket that fans were excited to see performed live. Modest Mouse did not disappoint. Isaac has been quoted saying this song “…. It ended up being a gentle reminder to the trolls and anyone who is trying to f*uck with other people’s rights or whatnot…it usually actually ends up preying on them too. There are no f*cking winners”
The mic rang out again when Isaac started talking to the crowd about the Netflix #1 series Squid Games. He compared it to seeing a band member break a whammy while live on stage, this was him closing the night out before the last song played. The music that Modest Mouse plays invites a feeling of freedom. You are transported to a carefree world. “Float on” a 2004 hit from the album Good News for People Who Love bad News. You could see people rushing back from wherever they may have walked off to, to come back to hear this song. “Already, we’ll all float on. No, don’t you worry, we’ll all float on, alright” the crowd sang together in sweet harmony. The lights went black, and the band started to leave the stage. There was a buzz amongst the lawn. No one was ready to leave. We all looked down at our phones, it wasn’t 11 o’clock yet. Could there be an encore happening? Would it be worth waiting for or should we start to walk to our cars?
Lights beamed back out across the lawn the low hum of “Fuck Your Acid Trip” stopped everyone in their tracks. The party was back on for a rocking encore! The final song of the night was “The Good Times Are Killing Me.” What a wonderful way to end the night. Modest Mouse ushered in the fall air and some incredible energy. I highly recommend checking out the new album and the amazing merch.
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