The Decemberists in Pontiac

Election Day with The Decemberists
Outside, Clutch Cargo’s looks like the mess of a church that it once was. Across the street is a decrepit building providing shelter and food for those who wander the streets of Pontiac. Haggard homeless men wonder why people surround the old church in the rainy, cold weather; there is no food inside. These desperate fans are waiting to be inches away from The Decemberists, who, despite their name, will warm up their souls.

The stage has eight red Chinese lanterns, against a backdrop of Chinese village. For a minute you forget it’s Election Day in the dreary Midwest, as the crowd provides an awkward warmth.

Opener Alasdair Roberts comes on stage; he looks as if he has just finished an expedition with Jacques Cousteau. He welcomes the crowd in Pontiac with his somber Scottish and Irish folk songs. These notes fall on a few appreciative ears; everyone is anxious to see the musical genius of The Decemberists. He invites the crowd to sing along near the end of this set, however, only a few brave this. He quickly exits the stage after a meager thirty-minute performance.
While awaiting The Decemberists to take the stage, a weird book on tape greets our ears. Some wonder if the music is Vivaldi or Tchaikovsky (I believe the final verdict was Tchaikovsky). Thirty minutes later, a man’s voice announces that we should be courteous to one another, asking us to introduce ourselves to our neighbors. He tells us to close our eyes and to “imagine you’re standing on a stone outcrop overlooking a vast canyon. A sound of baying wolves can be heard behind you.” The roar of the crowd becomes intense. He continues, “A warm wind is blowing the smell of lavender across the desert floor.” Suddenly, the smell of sweaty bodies seems not as intense as before. “You squint to make out the form of six figures ambling toward you along the edge of the canyon wall.” The Decemberists take the stage in the most eloquent fashion a band could, beginning their set with “The Crane Wife 3”.
Their albums are illuminated through their performance; the crowd’s enthusiasm becomes magnetic. The crowd begins to sway side by side, as “We Both Go Down Together” plays. Colin Meloy, the bespectacled lead of The Decemberists, introduces “Shankill Butchers” with, “Here’s a song for post-Halloween, mid Election Day.” After, “The Perfect Crime #2” plays, and everyone is dancing as if they were extras from “Saturday Night Fever”. If only a disco ball had declined from the ceiling.


The crowd screams as “16 Military Wives” begins. Everyone sang along. Near the end, Meloy moves the microphone towards the audience, as we sing the “la di da”s ending the song. Next, “The Island”, which was played impressively and without a flaw. To “end” their set, they played “Sons and Daughters”. Alasdair Roberts, and his band, accompanied The Decemberists on the stage to sing, “Here all the bombs fade away”, which Colin described as, “the sentiment that I hope you take away after this Election Day”. As everyone sang along, peace seemed possible. It was a perfect ending to a concert on such an important day.


The band rushed off stage, and three excruciatingly loud minutes later, Meloy reappeared to play “Red Right Ankle”. As Jenny Conlee, the keyboardist, accordion extraordinaire, joined to accompany Meloy, they smiled sweetly at each other, as if they shared a secret with their stares. Nate Query joined with his bass, as they began to play “A Cautionary Song”. Throughout the crowd maneuvered Chris Funk, with a drum, John Moen, with some cymbals, and Lisa Molinaro with some tambourines. Funk, Moen and Molinaro stopped a foot away from me, as Meloy emceed their reenactment of the “execution of Anne Boleyn”. After Anne Boleyn is executed, played beautifully by Molinaro, Funk and Moen discover their love for one another, as Henry VIII and the executioner. As the three march back on stage, Meloy, Funk and Conlee finish the song. Molinaro mocks beheading Meloy with her tambourines at the final note. The crowd goes crazy as many fight for set lists and picks.

Outside, there is a deep fog over Pontiac. The Decemberists cast a hazy spell in their performance, leaving a long lasting craving for more.
11.07.06 Pontiac, Clutch Cargo’s setlist
To my recollection the setlist:
The Crane Wife 3
July, July!
We Both Go Down Together
The Engine Driver
Shankill Butchers
The Perfect Crime #2
The Legionnaire's Lament
The Crane Wife 1 and 2
O Valencia
16 Military Wives
The Island, Come and See, The Landlord's Daughter, You'll Not Feel the Drowning
Sons and Daughters
Encore: Red Right Ankle
A Cautionary Song