The Decemberists, led by singer-guitarist Colin Meloy, spun more of their complex narratives and melodies at the Fillmore on Tuesday. Photos by .
There is a scene in many a classic Hollywood musical in which the entire cast comes together for a dramatic, apropos-of-nothing explosion of musical narrative, replete with outlandish costumes, grand effects and electrifying vocals. Tuesday’s show at the felt much like such an act — so stunningly emotional, so grandiose in style and so theatrical in effect that even the most jaded teenager at this all-ages event couldn’t help but smile an awestruck grin.
The band spent the first act of the show running through the entirety of “The Hazards of Love.” Furthering the band’s reputation for operatic narrative and storytelling, the Decemberists’ latest album is another cautionary fairy-tale of love gone awry. And as such, the story had to be told from beginning to end, unfolding the tender love story between a mystical forest creature (frontman Colin Meloy) and a delicate mortal (Lavender Diamond’s Becky Stark).
Complications arise when a vengeful forest queen (a very vixenlike Shara Worden of ) catches wind of the romance. Replete with costumes, a fog machine, vivid light effects and the delightfully histrionic conflict between the two female guest vocalists, the performance of “The Hazards of Love” had all the energy of a high-school musical, and all the baroque-pop firepower one expects from the Decemberists.
After a brief intermission, the Decemberists returned to perform some of their older favorites, or rather, “ghost stories, murder songs and songs of teenage self-absorption,” as Meloy called them. Though wonderful and performed exactly as they should be, the tempo of the band’s eariler work served as a stark contrast to the more jagged rock sound of the first half. Perhaps this is why, after the sweet and sad songs like “We Both Go Down Together” and “Leslie Ann Levine,” Stark and Warden returned to the stage for a scorching cover of Heart’s “Crazy on You.”
The band finished with “Sons and Daughters,” eliciting a heartfelt singalong to the chorus. “If we leave anything ringing in your ears tonight, let it be this refrain,” Meloy told the audience, as he got the packed Tuesday night crowd to sing “Here all the bombs fade away.”
At around 11 p.m., the repeated refrain finally did fade away, and for the sake of the curfew of the young crowd, the lights came on and the band graciously left the stage. But the early curtain provoked in me a feeling I haven’t had in a long time. It felt, in fact, like the bedtime story had ended a little too soon.
Cassandra Schoon is an assistant manager at and a regular Reverb contributor.
Lucia De Giovanni is an award-winning photographer and internationally known photojournalist. You can view more of her work on her and follow her Project 365, a Photo a Day, on her .
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The Decemberists
