25 Years of The Lonesome Crowded West: Modest Mouse at The Fox Theater in Oakland

The Lonesome Crowded West (1997) is considered by many to be one of the greatest indie albums of all time; last Wednesday, Modest Mouse came to the Fox Theater in Oakland to celebrate 25 years since its release. Excited fans formed merch lines that curved throughout the building as they tried to snag memorabilia to remember the night. As we filed in, concertgoers were already proudly pulling Modest Mouse hoodies over whatever they were wearing for the occasion.

Before Modest Mouse made their appearance on stage, the opener Mattress came out on stage, successfully hyping up the crowd. I was shocked to see that the opener for a band as big as Modest Mouse had only around 2,000 monthly listeners on Spotify. He strutted out on stage dressed head to toe in gold—a gold shimmering suit and sparkling, bedazzled gold loafers. Despite his solo project status, he filled up the stage with his exuberance. It was an infectious energy. He didn’t take himself too seriously and the crowd had a great time with that, jumping in to sing along and cheering him on. After Mattress exited the stage, he left the crowd murmuring about how much they loved his performance. The crowd continued to grow, and so did the anticipation for Modest Mouse, as the sold out venue filled in.

The music faded and the lights dimmed, and cheering erupted as each member of the band came out on stage wielding a flashlight. I was curious as to what kind of crowd this show would attract, and was surprised to see a good amount of younger people like me who weren’t even born when The Lonesome Crowded West (1997) was first released. Yet still an overwhelming majority of the people in attendance were those who grew up listening to Modest Mouse and have been following them ever since. Despite this generational divide, everyone was overwhelmingly excited to see them as they walked on stage and with little acknowledgement went straight into their first song, “Teeth God Like Sunshine.” From this first song, it wasn’t hard to tell that these guys are seasoned performers. Their choppy, harsh lyrics were centered around heavy instrumentals, and extensive use of whammy bars. Interesting riffs and obscure sounds are all over their discography and seeing how they incorporated that into their live performance made it feel like they were giving the audience a sneak preview into the recording studio. Frontman Isaac Brock even sang into his guitar strings, warping his voice and lyrics in true Modest Mouse fashion. Exploring their range of music, they played slower, more folky songs centered around acoustic sounds and moved through heavier anthems like “Cowboy Dan,” which prompted the mosh pit to roil, and even inspired one younger kid to crowd surf.

It was one of those shows where you are left in awe at the fullness of a band’s sound and their commitment to that energy. There was no doubt that this was a show that required an encore. When they exited the stage for the first time, the audience didn’t go anywhere. Chants for “one more song,” echoed through The Fox until they made their way back on stage for three more songs. Although they didn’t play some of their arguably most popular songs, such as “Float On,” and “Dramamine,” people didn’t seem to be disappointed, just happy to hear Modest Mouse play anything at all. Their last song was a cover of The Flaming Lips, “Five Stop Mother Superior Rain,” which Brock dedicated to a friend of his who was somewhere amongst the crowd. Those who knew sang along, and those who didn’t swayed in unison as the show came to a quiet close. It was a memorable night which gave me a new level of appreciation for their music. If Modest Mouse is playing near you anytime soon, you definitely shouldn’t miss it.