Present Joys
“We thank the Lord of heaven and earth
who hath preserved us from our birth
for present joys, for blessings past,
and for the hope of heaven at last.”

I saw the Mountain Goats in Cincinnati last friday (14 jun 2013). It was as delightful and numinous as you’d expect. Some thoughts:

  • I disliked the venue, which was the ballroom beneath the Taft Theatre. It was literally like a big, low-ceilinged basement room with harsh lighting. The sound was excellent, though, so I can’t complain.
  • The opening band, the Baptist Generals, were excellent. A great mix of weird/artsy/distorty/polyrhythmy stuff and good, solid tunes.
  • On to tMG: this whole tour, the band is just JD and PPH. The setup was very simple: two persian rugs, two guitars and one electronic keyboard for JD, and a bass for PPH. Super good. The stripped-down instrumentation was so much fun throughout the entire night.
  • Specifically wonderful: the bass, the bass, the bass. Peter played that white fretless bass the whole time. (Which must be a new thing? The first time I noticed the fretless was last fall, and he only used it on a few of the Transcendental Youth songs.) I don’t know whether it was the more intimate venue or the lack of drums or Brandon Eggleston workin’ extra magic or what, but the sound of the instruments was crisp and articulate and wonderful.
  • That isn’t to say that Wurster was not missed, because I missed him a lot! But it was so fun to have the bass as sole rhythm section. Several songs (“Alpha Rats Nest”, “Dance Music”) had fresh-feeling, reworked bass grooves that seemed to be a direct result of the simpler instrumentation.
  • It was a cool set. Some old stuff, some new stuff. My two favorite parts: JD and PPH performing “Tallahassee” with JD on electric keyboard. Also: “Commandante”! There’s a song I wasn’t expecting to hear live. JD improvised some of the lyrics, at one point rhyming “the sayings of Chairman Mao” with “full Communism now”. Fantastic.
  • Oh, yeah! “Alpha Chum Gatherer” is a real song, and it is very good.
  • the bass! the bass! the bass! (Please imagine me shouting that à la John Flansburgh.)
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I interviewed with OhioHealth for an in-house graphic design internship last fall and started working there in january: downtown Columbus, a few blocks away from school, on the 30th floor. And today was my last day there! The people were, for the most part, kind and enjoyable. The whole experience was educational and edifying. I will miss it lots and lots.

To celebrate the end, I took lots of photographs. Also, I finally broke down and went out with fellow interns Lindsay and Audra for a delicious sushi lunch. A terrific ending.

So long, friends. I’ll be back to visit, hopefully! I still have my id badge. (don’t tell anyone!)

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