Decemberists at The Orange Peel

Friday offered another chance to head up to Asheville to see a great band at The Orange Peel (last time, it was They Might Be Giants). This time, The Decemberists took the stage to present their catalog of sea chanteys. Over the past year and a half or so, I've really enjoyed discovering this band's catalog. I can see how they would be an acquired taste, as their Web site's biography gives the flavor that peppers many of their song lyrics:

Was it chance, then, that lead the four unsuspecting bathers to seek to return their soiled undergarments at the same kiosk where worked the poor, bespectacled Colin Meloy? One can surmise all one wants, but the truth should be known that, after adopting the moniker The Decemberists, these five wan vagabonds began playing their peculiarly stylized pop music in various concert-halls and brothels all across the globe.

Although the set omitted a few tracks that I would have liked to hear, like "Legionnaire's Lament," "Los Angeles, I'm Yours," or "The Infanta." Other than that, it's always good to see a band that you know is on the rise playing an all-ages show. The Orange Peel sold out. 

There was one moment when an enormous insect - a moth, I think - flew around the lights and was actually pretty distracting for both the band and the audience. Singer Colin Meloy stopped to ask whether anyone else had seen what he had thought was a bat. A minute later, someone near the stage actually caught the insect, prompting the band to get the bug onto the stage so it could be released out of the side exit.

Singer and violinist Petra Haden, who received good reviews for her song-for-song cover album of The Who Sell Out, tackled a long and lyric-filled tune that showcased her impressive vocal range.

The band employed the expected diverse range of musical instruments, including accordian, toy piano, banjo, upright bass, and Rickenbacker guitar (it's gotten so seeing a Rick is an extraordinary experience).

This despite the fact someone with a tow truck once stole a trailer full of the band's instruments, including a sousaphone and a melodica.

I'm always impressed that vocalists can remember all the lyrics to their songs. In the case of The Decemberists, it's even more impressive. Late in the set, Meloy played a solo version of "My Mother Was A Chinese Trapeze Artist," and closed with the wonderful "I Was Meant for the Stage":

I was meant for the crowd,
I was meant for the shouting.
I was meant to raise these hands
With quiet all about me. oh, oh.

Mother, please, be proud.
Father, be forgiven.
Even though you told me
'Son, you'll never make a living.' oh, oh.

The band then finished with the rousing, nine-minute "Mariner's Revenge Song."