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Live review: The Decemberists
That the Decemberists would someday record a sprawling, ambitious rock opera would likely not come as a surprise to long time fans of the band. This is, after all, the same nerdy, intellectual baroque pop group that once released an 18-minute-long single based off the Irish myth “Táin Bó Cúailnge.” And the band’s arguably most famous song, “The Mariner’s Revenge Song” is an eight-minute-long original tale of revenge.
But fans reared on the acoustic folk-rock style of “Picaresque” might have been more surprised to discover that somewhere along the way, the band learned how to rock. Hard. As they took to the stage in light rain Sunday night, the Decemberists put on a heavy, tight show — less a performance and more a production — with a surprising amount of thunderous percussion and studly axe work from bookish-looking band leader Colin Meloy.
For their set, the Decemberists essentially performed their most recent album, the hour-long rock opera “The Hazards of Love” in its entirety. A whimsical story of love and fantasy with Meloy as the protagonist, it also has large roles reserved for Lavendar Diamond’s Becky Stark and My Brightest Diamond’s Shara Worden, who, with her powerful, soul-influenced vocals and fetching stage outfit, was a captivating presence. Though quiet moments seeped in here and there — as on acoustic stunner “The Rake’s Song” — the performance was dominated by electrifying theatrics from Meloy, Stark and Worden.
Though the Decemberists have always been a compelling live act, their unlikely evolution from an epic folk band to a group mixing mythology with occasional doses of hard rock has elevated them to a new level. It takes equal doses of intellect and vigor to sell a rock opera on stage — at a festival, in the rain — and the Decemberists seem to have developed the necessary chops.
Jack Plunkett photo/Associated Press
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