“Down it!” About half way through this remarkable show – one that stretches to almost two hours in length and contains no less than 22 songs – a lone voice from deep inside the Brudenell crowd urges John Darnielle to polish off in one the full glass of wine that he has just poured for himself. Entering fully into the spirit of the exchange the man who for all intents and purposes is the Mountain Goats suggests that the chap in the audience may not really know him that well because he (Darnielle) has “spent an entire lifetime struggling against the virtues of moderation.”
Putting to one side what may or not be John Darnielle’s passion for intoxicants, either past or present, just one glance at the Mountain Goats’ discography will tell you that he is someone for whom the word prolific is most well-suited. The release earlier this year of In League with Dragons marked the 17th such full-length album the Mountain Goats have produced since their recording inception a quarter of century earlier. To this superabundant output you can add a whole bunch of other artistic collaborations that John Darnielle has undertaken over the years. And then when you take further account of his writing (his debut novel, Wolf in the White Van, was published in 2014), podcasting and social activism you quickly realise that there just aren’t enough hours in the day for the man from Durham, North Carolina.
This whirlwind of creative activity is reflected in John Darnielle’s current stay in Leeds. Tonight is the second of two consecutive sold-out shows at the Brudenell, between which he and Mountain Goats have also found time to squeeze in a Sunday afternoon in-store performance at the local independent record shop, Jumbo.
Such is the volume of potential songs at the Mountain Goats’ disposal there are clear and marked differences between the set-lists for all three of these live ventures. The two shows at the Brudenell, though, and in keeping with the vast majority of the other dates on this tour – the so-named Wyvern’s Ring Tour of Western and Northern Europe – are characterised by the Mountain Goats appearing as a duo (John Darnielle is joined by multi-instrumentalist Matt Douglas, a man who has been playing with Mountain Goats since their 15th album, Beat The Champ) and support coming courtesy of Laura Cortese & the Dance Cards, a trio of singing string players steeped in the grandest of folk traditions.
Something that also appears to remain consistent across all of the Mountain Goats’ sets on this tour is their broad format. They begin as a duo for seven or eight songs before Matt Douglas departs for a cup of a tea or a quick shower or whatever visiting musicians do backstage during a short break from the stage whilst John Darnielle performs a handful of tunes on his own. The two then reconvene for another few songs before Laura Cortese & the Dance Cards also decide to join in on the fun having already put in a sterling, swinging, rousing shift that mixed traditional Appalachian fiddle tunes with sweet harmonies and the modern dance.
Some 18 songs in and after a tumultuous double-barrel of ‘Cadaver Sniffing Dog’ and ‘Up The Wolves’ the five musicians take their leave only to return a few minutes later, first as a duo and then altogether again for four more excursions into that familiar Darnielle storytelling territory where distraction and detail are both king and queen. The fact that these intriguing, insightful narratives arrive dressed to kill in the most delightful, dangerous, occasionally shambolic (‘Birth of Serpents’ is beautifully under-rehearsed) country-folk and punk-infused and piano ballad melodies makes this entire Mountain Goats experience not only wildly unpredictable but entirely memorable.
Photos: Simon Godley
More photos from this show are HERE
