To the excitement of many hometown fans, Philly’s own The Districts opened up for Modest Mouse at The Met Philly on Thursday night. Their previous tour in support of You Know I’m Not Going Anywhere was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 (just after the first show at Union Transfer). This show marks the second since the exit of their longtime bassist (and one of the band’s original co-founders), Connor Jacobus. However, this detail didn’t seem to take any steam out of their usual high-energy performance, now warming up the crowd for one of indie-rock’s greatest. Lead singer and guitarist Rob Grote thrusted and swung his body and guitar around the stage while performing songs like ‘Salt’ and ‘If Before I Wake’ (off their 2017 release Popular Manipulations) – they also performed songs off the newest album, including WXPN radio favorite, ‘Cheap Regrets’.
Modest Mouse took the stage promptly at 9PM to a packed house. Frontman, Isaac Brock, who serves as the band’s vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter, graced the stage donning a Wild Fang full-body orange jumpsuit and began playing those first distorted notes to ‘Dramamine’ (the opening track off the band’s 1996 album This Is A Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About).
Powering through a fan-favorite setlist spanning the band’s nearly 30 year career, Modest Mouse proved they’ve still got it. The band released their seventh studio album The Golden Casket in June, marking their first album in 6 years. The crowd cheered at the opening notes of almost every song, joyfully singing along to those old and new, their vocals overpowering Brock’s own at many points. It was obvious the band could feel the energy coming right back to them. After thanking the crowd and bowing out, Modest Mouse returned to the stage to perform an incredible 5-song encore. Brock admitted to veering from the originally planned encore setlist, but after so long without live music, the crowd was thrilled with the ad-lib.
See the full setlist below and keep scrolling to see more photos from the show.
Modest Mouse Setlist (8/5/2021):
– Dramamine
– Back to the Middle
– Cowboy Dan
– Bury Me With It
– Wooden Soldiers
– Gravity Rides Everything
– Leave a Light On
– Satin in a Coffin
– King Rat
– Shit in Your Cut
– Float On
– Paper Thin Walls
– We Are Between
– We’re Lucky
– I Came as a Rat
// Encore //
– Fuck Your Acid Trip
– Fire It Up
– The Ground Walks, With Time in a Box
– Broke
– Bukowski
