Review: Decemberists’ headlining gig shows off wealth of liberal arts talents

The December-who?

For a band that made teachers everywhere happy last night at Red Rocks, a large group of my colleagues continue to have no idea about who this Portland band, who has been making music since a 2001 self-produced EP, is.

The first teacher to be pleased with the set as performed by the Decemberists had to be music teachers. Jenny Conlee, who spends most of her time behind the keyboards, played at least five different instruments from her perch on the left side of the stage. John Moen took his turn for a saxophone solo while wearing a cape during “We All Die Young,” just one of the sing-alongs performed Tuesday night. Then, Moen returned to his keyboard set up to play his guitar. There were whistles, xylophones, drums… it was a Jimmy Fallon skit, but for real.

English and social studies teachers have to love the Decemberists. It feels like each song is rooted in history. Rooted because the tunes become tall tales. Even singer/guitarist Colin Meloy admitted such early in the set when introducing one song as “more true than most.” The capstone of the history as a tall tale came in the encore when the Decemberists played Lin Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton cut “Ben Franklin’s Song,” Not that they needed to perform a semi-cover (the Decemberists wrote the music for the completed lyric) to get their point across. “Grace Cathedral Hill,” Yankee Bayonet,” and “Oh Valencia” had already touched on both elements earlier in the evening.

Math teachers would have loved the “Rox in the Box” lyrics with the 1-2-3 and 7-8-9 chorus and science teachers weren’t left out either. Meloy was consumed by the venue and talked about plenty of things geological, meteorological, and astronomical. And then they threw “Starwatcher” into the mix.

PE teachers would have been impressed with the athletic prowess of Meloy as he continually pushed the limits of the Red Rocks stage by climbing over and under the protective rail. And the Decemberist’s endurance was put on display late when they returned to the stage for a second encore with a tank of oxygen that they clearly didn’t need.

The grand finale, a take on “The Mariner’s Revenge Song” would have made the greatest theater teacher swoon. Complete with crowd participation, an inflated whale, and plenty of posturing on stage, the final song of the night showed the depth and consistency of the Decemberist’s talents.

The show wasn’t perfect – “Severed” still sticks out like a sore thumb and there weren’t enough songs played off of The Crane Wife. But that’s being too picky for a band on tour promoting its new music and that mixed up its set greatly from the last tour.

Red Rocks was about three quarters full – much less so by the 11 o’clock hour when the show ended. Many of the fans were experiencing them for the first time, and upon my return to work today, I had to answer the question “December-who?” all over again. It’s clear the Decemberists remain one of the music industry’s little secrets. People just don’t know what fun they’re missing.