It’s been a whopping six years since beloved Pacific Northwest indie folksters The Decemberists have released an album, and a whole lot has changed in the world. For starters, there are very few bands releasing music with the kind of wisdom and story-filled lyrics of this band. The ones that do rarely receive the kind of acclaim and acknowledgment that allows them to play large venues. Luckily for us, and even with the passage of time, The Decemberists are as vibrant and timely as ever, as evidenced by their new album As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again. Wisely described by Glide’s own Ryan Dillon as the band’s “lengthiest and most daring album to date,” The Decemberists’ latest is both a triumphant return and an easy contender for album of the year. On Friday, June 14th, the band celebrated the album’s release with a special – and intimate by their standards – hometown show in front of a sold-out crowd at Revolution Hall in Portland, Oregon.
Having announced the show just over a week before, the band billed it as “The Rumpus At Rev Hall” and included activities like live tattooing, a game room, live screen printing, a “cuddle patrol” with puppies for adoption, and a live stream of the actual performance. Given the festive nature of the whole event, the show quickly sold out, and those who packed the venue were eager to see how the band would integrate this new material into a repertoire that now stretches over two decades. With a stage that fittingly resembled a Wes Anderson set with just the right amount of Northwest twee, the band entered and immediately started with a more intimate batch of songs. At first, Colin Meloy was backed only by Lizzy Ellison and French horn player Victor Nash on “All I Want Is You.” Other members made their way to the stage, and the band gave the folkie treatment to songs like “Shankill Butchers” and “William Fitzwilliam.” These songs imparted a sense of quiet brightness illuminated by the orbs in front of Meloy, and while some surely wondered if the whole set would be done in this acoustic fashion, after a particularly haunting “Don’t Go to the Woods,” the band switched into full rock mode.
“Burial Ground” may be the best song on the band’s new album and is arguably one of the finest in their catalog, which was clear from the overwhelmingly enthusiastic crowd reaction when they launched into this work of jangly folk-rock. “The Reapers” also stood out with perhaps the most vivid references to farm equipment you will hear in a song, as well as its ominous reflection on death. In this case, Chris Funk accentuated the song with his thick baritone saxophone playing. “Leslie Anne Levine” was a fine example of the big group sound these musicians can conjure up, complete with pedal steel, Jenny Conlee’s impressive accordion, and a tight backbeat from John Moen. Other highlights included “Oh No!” with loads of energy and gypsy tango vibes and vibrant, feisty horns, “Long White Veil,” described by Meloy as an “Astoria ghost story,” that felt like a soaring work of country rock, and a version of “The Sporting Life” that was super catchy with its timeless power pop quality.
You might’ve thought the band would just play their new album in its entirety to this captive audience, but this felt more like an impromptu celebration as they shared new songs and old ones while also warming up for a summer filled with tour dates. They veered casually from their literary folk stylings into bigger rock territory with the psychedelic guitar freakout during “Severed,” while the country-rock of “Never Satisfied” during the encore was a major highlight. This was followed up with a playful crowd joke that preceded “Dracula’s Daughter” before the entire audience joined in to sing along with “O Valencia!” perhaps their best-known song. By the time a loosened up Meloy climbed into the audience to serenade them with “I Was Meant for the Stage,” it was clear that The Decemberists are very much back in full force.
