Sunday, December 13, 2009
"And these hazards of love/Never more will trouble us..."
On Thursday, October 8th I sucked up my dislike for The Riv and got there early enough to secure a good spot for The Decemberists. They have been touring pretty heavily supporting their latest album The Hazards of Love and this was their third visit to Chicago this year. The first time at Grant Park in the summer and the second at Lolla. Colin joked with us saying, “Man, Chicago, how many times do we have to come back here?” Ummm…never enough!
Their opener is not a stranger to the band and has opened for them before, Laura Veirs. She did many songs from her soon-to-be-released album, July Flame. She also played my favorite song of hers, “Galaxies.” She had a different backing band than her previous tours, but she was still cute as a button. She mentioned she’ll be back this winter as a part of her proper tour.
As great as Laura is we were there to see one of my all time favorite bands play. I was completely caught off guard that they played The Hazards of Love in its entirety and in order, which makes sense since it is a rock opera: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hazards_of_Love They also had their cast, Lavender Diamond's Becky Stark and My Brightest Diamond's Shara Worden, with them in addition to the band. I was very impressed that the entire band stayed on stage the entire time playing, no breaks and no banter, for about an hour. It took me a few listens to get into this album when I first got it, and prior to the show I had my favorite songs…but after seeing it live I am head over heels for this album.
The first part of the show went as followed:
“Prelude”
“The Hazards of Love 1 (The Prettiest Whistles Won't Wrestle the Thistles Undone)”
“A Bower Scene”
“Won't Want for Love (Margaret in the Taiga)”
“The Hazards of Love 2 (Wager All)”
“The Queen's Approach”
“Isn't it a Lovely Night?”
“The Wanting Comes in Waves/Repaid”
“An Interlude”
“The Rake's Song “
“The Abduction of Margaret”
“The Queen's Rebuke / The Crossing”
“Annan Water”
“Margaret in Captivity”
“The Hazards of Love 3 (Revenge!)”
“The Wanting Comes in Waves (Reprise)”
“The Hazards of Love 4 (The Drowned)”
When they finished up, Colin said they were going to have a little break and then come back out for some more. I thought we’d hear two or three more songs and that would be that. But no (thank goodness)! They ended up playing almost a full hour with old familiar and favorite songs. Making it a very beefy encore:
Encore 1 (the 2nd part of the show):
“July, July!”
“Everything I Try to Do, Nothing Seems to Turn Out Right”
“Los Angeles, I'm Yours”
“Grace Cathedral Hill”
“The Crane Wife 1 & 2”
“O Valencia”
“Crazy On You (Heart cover, sung by Becky and Shara)”
Encore 2:
“Save Yourself”
“Sons & Daughters”
The Decemberists always put on a solid and engaging show. This not the first time I have written about the band and hopefully, if you have been reading this blog at all, you know that my love for them runs deep. And every show I have seen has been amazing. I can appreciate their consistency and dedication they put into each show. I cannot say enough good things about this show or the band. Again, go see them when you get the opportunity.
xoxo,
Stefania
Current followed The Decemberists as they were getting ready for this tour:
As of now, there are no official videos for the songs on this album, instead they have done this:
Now available on iTunes, but I hope it will be released on DVD.
Their opener is not a stranger to the band and has opened for them before, Laura Veirs. She did many songs from her soon-to-be-released album, July Flame. She also played my favorite song of hers, “Galaxies.” She had a different backing band than her previous tours, but she was still cute as a button. She mentioned she’ll be back this winter as a part of her proper tour.
As great as Laura is we were there to see one of my all time favorite bands play. I was completely caught off guard that they played The Hazards of Love in its entirety and in order, which makes sense since it is a rock opera: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hazards_of_Love They also had their cast, Lavender Diamond's Becky Stark and My Brightest Diamond's Shara Worden, with them in addition to the band. I was very impressed that the entire band stayed on stage the entire time playing, no breaks and no banter, for about an hour. It took me a few listens to get into this album when I first got it, and prior to the show I had my favorite songs…but after seeing it live I am head over heels for this album.
The first part of the show went as followed:
“Prelude”
“The Hazards of Love 1 (The Prettiest Whistles Won't Wrestle the Thistles Undone)”
“A Bower Scene”
“Won't Want for Love (Margaret in the Taiga)”
“The Hazards of Love 2 (Wager All)”
“The Queen's Approach”
“Isn't it a Lovely Night?”
“The Wanting Comes in Waves/Repaid”
“An Interlude”
“The Rake's Song “
“The Abduction of Margaret”
“The Queen's Rebuke / The Crossing”
“Annan Water”
“Margaret in Captivity”
“The Hazards of Love 3 (Revenge!)”
“The Wanting Comes in Waves (Reprise)”
“The Hazards of Love 4 (The Drowned)”
When they finished up, Colin said they were going to have a little break and then come back out for some more. I thought we’d hear two or three more songs and that would be that. But no (thank goodness)! They ended up playing almost a full hour with old familiar and favorite songs. Making it a very beefy encore:
Encore 1 (the 2nd part of the show):
“July, July!”
“Everything I Try to Do, Nothing Seems to Turn Out Right”
“Los Angeles, I'm Yours”
“Grace Cathedral Hill”
“The Crane Wife 1 & 2”
“O Valencia”
“Crazy On You (Heart cover, sung by Becky and Shara)”
Encore 2:
“Save Yourself”
“Sons & Daughters”
The Decemberists always put on a solid and engaging show. This not the first time I have written about the band and hopefully, if you have been reading this blog at all, you know that my love for them runs deep. And every show I have seen has been amazing. I can appreciate their consistency and dedication they put into each show. I cannot say enough good things about this show or the band. Again, go see them when you get the opportunity.
xoxo,
Stefania
Current followed The Decemberists as they were getting ready for this tour:
As of now, there are no official videos for the songs on this album, instead they have done this:
Now available on iTunes, but I hope it will be released on DVD.
// posted by Stefania @ 8:03 PM 
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