Modest Mouse - The Whale Song - Live at Stanford, Frost Revival 5-19-12

Modest Mouse - The Whale Song - Stanford University, Live, Sat. 5-19-12, 1st row, Frost Amphitheater. Isaac Brock humorously responds to yet another shouted request. :P And at the end, he throws us a souvenir which turns out to be just a pack of Wet Ones, lol.


Other Tidbits:

The Stanford student concert organizers sought to revive the Frost Amphitheater as a venue for future events after reading about the Frost and its rich musical history from the 60s and 70s. Since then, the venue has not hosted a concert of this size (~5400) for over 10 years. A vote was put to the students on which band they would like to see, and Modest Mouse was the winner.

The Frost Amphitheater itself is just a concrete slab, so everything has to be brought in, from the light towers to the dressing rooms (the white tents in the background). I also believe the Stanford Concert Network made their own festival decorations for the show. The Modest Mouse balloon with the Lucky Charms appeared to be made by the student body along with the large 3-D blue paper jellyfish hanging from the trees and the Nintendo mushrooms in the woods. This likely relates to the fact that the SCN had to lead a fundraising effort to support this ~$250,000 event. These high operating costs have previously precluded the SCN from booking bands like MM to the Frost.

The Stanford Concert Network did a really good job with the show. In addition to putting out a great poster, they even had a couple trendy SF food trucks there. And of course, everything had low student-pricing, which made it even more impressive that they turned a profit. ($20 tickets for students and $10 posters. GA was $40 and $15, respectively).


I was fortunate enough to quickly snap a picture of the setlist as one of the stagehands was taping it to the floor. It was not an easy task, as the lists were all well-blocked from view by the speakers. However, as the guy was taping down the setlist in front of Jim Fairchild's microphone, he flashed the paper like a poker player accidentally flashes his cards, and I took a picture of it. I then zoomed in on the photo and could read the setlist in full. Afterwards, I shared the info with my neighbors.. "Hey man nice shot!" :P

Being able to see the setlist beforehand was nice because Modest Mouse always plays wildly different sets concert to concert. Pretty much the only song you can count on being played every time is 'Dashboard'. Everything else is up in the air.

Being in the 1st row certainly had its perks.. We were ~12 feet away from Isaac Brock, so close that in between songs he pointed at me and the guy to my right saying "You, my dear friends, much like me, can lose your sunglasses, like me, because the sun is not in your eyes.." lol. (Isaac took off his sunglasses right before playing 'Ansel', then took his hat off after 'Gravity Rides Everything'.)


Eyes Lips Eyes, who has played here before, brought out the Stanford Tree and danced with her on stage for their rendition of the Talking Heads 'Psycho Killer'.
Benjamin Francis Leftwich, who is from the UK, asked the crowd "Hey, why aren't you drinking any beers?" I guess he forgot this is a College and about half the student body is under 21. :P That said, it obviously wasn't impossible to get a drink, or a smoke, as Isaac Brock lit up a cigarette and drank a beer in between songs. There's a good shot of him doing just that right before 'The World at Large', lol.

Speaking of which, 'The World at Large' was actually supposed to come before 'Float On', as it was written on the setlist. However, the violinist had a problem with her connection, so to prevent a delay, the band went to the next song.



Setlist:

1. Bury Me With It
2. Dashboard
3. Ansel
4. Gravity Rides Everything
5. Satin in a Coffin
6. Custom Concern
7. Heart of Mine
8. Paper Thin Walls
9. Parting of the Sensory
10. Float On
11. The World at Large
12. Breakthrough
13. Dramamine
14. Fly Trapped in a Jar

Encore:
15. Poison the Well
16. King Rat
17. The Whale Song


Lineup:
Modest Mouse
Eyes Lips Eyes
Benjamin Francis Leftwich