Concert Review: Modest Mouse at Avondale Brewing Company

Returning to The Magic City for the first time since 2018, Modest Mouse were deeply missed. A packed out house greeted the band on their return. The band is out in support of their latest album, The Golden Casket, which was released last summer.

English rockers The Cribs are touring in support of Modest Mouse. Hailing from West Yorkshire, this trio of brothers made their Alabama debut at this show to a lot of fanfare. With dueling vocalists and a relatively small set of instruments, The Cribs brought a huge sound and represented the British punk scene well.

A rag-tag band of misfits, Modest Mouse certainly know how to bring out the wild side in people. Since their inception in the 90s and catapult to success in the mid-2000s, Modest Mouse have been slowly but methodically covering all the bases in their sonic pallet. 

Psychedelic infused indie rock with a ton of distortion, Modest Mouse was nothing if not distinct. The sextet seemed to have an aura around them as they played, layering elements and elements of instrumentation over one another for a melody of sounds hard to fathom. At times the instrumentation felt it leaned more into noise rock, sometimes it felt more classic indie rock, and others it felt like an all out jam session.

This band is incredibly good at what they do. Even heavily under the influence, they still delivered an incredible performance and can play better than some do sober. The music was rhythmic and flowing, swelling in and out, passing through the crowd with grace. Simultaneously, the manic deliver and left-of-field lyrics added a chaotic element that left room for surprises throughout the night.

Sometimes it can be hard to tell where one song stops and another begins, and that was certainly the case here. The only time you wouldn't hear music was the occasional drunken ramblings of frontman Isaac Brock (which to be fair, were equally as entertaining). Their setlist is below.

         1.  Dramamine

         2. We Are Between -> We're Lucky

         3. I Came As A Rat (Long Walk Off a Short Dock)

         4. Bury Me With It

         5. F**k Your Acid Trip

         6. Paper Thin Walls

         7. King Rat

         8. Bukiwski

         9. Missed The Boat

         10. Japanese Trees

         11. Float On

         12. Lampshades On Fire

         13. Dashboard

         14. Tiny Cities Made of Ashes

         -

         15. Broke

         16. Dark Center of the Universe

         17. Never F**k A Spider On The Fly

         18. Wicked Campaign

         19. Back To The Middle

Modest Mouse still have a whole ton of shows left for this year, from across North America to across the pond. You can check out their dates below.

         4/25 Atlanta, GA — The Tabernacle*

         4/26 Louisville, KY — Iroquois Amphitheater*

         4/28 Tulsa, OK — Tulsa Theater*

         4/29 Spicewood, TX — Luck Ranch*

         5/01 Memphis, TN — Beale Street Music Festival 2022

         5/12-14 La Vegas, NV — Tony Hawk's Weekend Jam 2022

         5/19 Eugene, OR — The Cuthbert Amphitheater*

         5/20 Reno, NV — Grand Theatre at Grand Sierra Resort*

         5/21 Pasadena, CA — Just Like Heaven 2022

         5/23 Denver, CO — Mission Ballroom*

         5/24 Kansas City, MO — Grinders KC*

         5/25 Maryland Heights, MO — Saint Louis Music Park

         5/27 Lewiston, NY — Artpark*

         5/28 Asbury Park, NJ — Stone Pony Summer Stage*

         5/29 Allston, MA — Boston Calling Festival 2022

         5/30 Portland, ME — State Theatre*

         6/01 Montréal, QC — MTELUS

         6/02 Toronto, ON — History

         6/03 Grand Rapids, MI — GLC Live at 20 Monroe

         6/04 Chicago, IL — Aragon Ballroom*

         6/05 Cleveland, OH — Jacob's Pavilion at Nautica*

         6/07 Lafayette, NY — Beak & Sniff Apple Orchards*

         6/08 New York, NY — Summerstage in Central Park*

         6/09 Providence, RI — The Strand Ballroom & Theatre*

         6/23 Milwaukee, WI — Summerfest 2022

         6/30 Roskilde, DK — Roskilde Festival 2022

         7/01 Stockholm, SE — Lollapalooza Stockholm 2022

         7/03 Werchter, BE — Rock Werchter 2022

         7/06 Lisbon, PT — Nos Alive 2022

         7/07 Madrid, ES — Mad Cool Festival 2022

         7/10 München, DE — Muffathalle

         7/11 Köhn, DE — Carlswerk Victoria

         7/12 Berlin, DE — Huxley's Neue Welt

         7/13 Ostrava, CZ — Colours of Ostrava 2022

         7/15 Amsterdam, NE — Paradiso

         7/16 Paris, FR — Lollapalooza Paris 2022

         7/18 London, GB — O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire

         7/20 Glasgow, GB — Barrowland Balllroom

         7/21 Manchester, GB — Albert Hall

         7/22 Southwold, GB — Latitude Festival 2022

         8/19 Portland, OR — Pioneer Courthouse Square

         8/20 Portland, OR — Pioneer Courthouse Square

         8/22 Vancouver, BC — The Orpheum

         8/24 Edmonton, AB — Edmonton Convention Centre

         8/25 Calgary, AB — Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium

         8/27 Port Townsend, WA — Thing Festival 2022

         8/29 Boise, ID — Idaho Botanical Garden

         8/30 Ogden, UT — Ogden Amphitheater         

         * with The Cribs

A wild night of mania and fresh sounds surrounded Modest Mouse as they took on Birmingham. The twenty first century icons are a must see for nay fan of indie or alternative rock.