When one of the most innovative indie-rock bands of the last few decades comes to town, you’ve just got no option but to be there. Modest Mouse, joined by Chicago rockers Friko, sold out the Aztec Theatre playing all the hits that’ve made them so beloved in the scene over many years, and by indication of this show, for many more years to come.
My friend, Campbell, had always voiced high praise for his hometown band, Friko, and I could definitely see why during their great live set.
The indie-rock group had the best energy; Niko Kapetan’s vocals were amazing and the band member closest to my side of the stage was rocking absolutely wildly during the band’s peak moments. “Get Numb to It!” had this visceral emotion to it, “For Ella” was gorgeous and heartbreaking, and “Where We’ve Been” tied together all those qualities perfectly.
It was the first time they’ve ever played in San Antonio, and I’d be more happy to see them back. A headline performance here would be insane.
The older and more seasoned indie-rock band were the headliners tonight, though, as Modest Mouse came on and delivered an extremely on-point set. Isaac Brock’s vocals sounded terrific all night and in the crowd, you could really feel the energy of the show right from the jump and just continue to build up throughout the night.
Going into the concert, “Float On” was admittedly the only song I knew and to my surprise, they knocked it out pretty early on, and the crowd was amazing singing along to every word.
The crowd here definitely leaned older, but some of the more passionate fans I saw were on the younger side. I saw so much excitement coming from them when they’d hear the first notes played of their favorite songs.
Modest Mouse played a complete mix of new and old, ranging from their albums in the ‘90s to their latest release in 2021. This tour was also serving as an anniversary for their 2000 record, Good News for People Who Love Bad News, and it was really neat to hear the differences in their sound over the years.
They’d play a newer song like “Wooden Soldiers” that had a pretty polished sound compared to something like “Doin’ the Cockroach” that had much more of that raw ‘90s sound. The band also added in a variety of instruments such as the banjo and the trumpet, which created a very dynamic sound for their performance.
It wasn’t a performance with much crowd interaction; Isaac said a few things here and there I couldn’t really make out.
The one thing I did catch him saying was that he was performing sober, which he admitted was a difficult thing for him.
That level of honesty on stage was something very powerful.
The band has had a reputation for unpredictable live shows, but this was definitely a tight performance by them, and I heard quite a few fans around me seem to agree.
The crowd around me also absolutely loved hearing “Dashboard” and “Spitting Venom,” and the group continued to treat them with even more during their four-song encore. They included “Truckers Atlas” which the fans adored and they closed out with “The World at Large,” getting the crowd excitedly cheering one last time.
I do have to mention one thing about the night that disappointed me, and that’s some of the San Antonio crowd.
Not one but two fights broke out, with the second one causing so much chaos on my side of the pit that the band had to stop playing to make sure everyone was okay. There were a few others around me who weren’t violent but were just very loud and pushy to others, not respecting their desire to enjoy the show.
This was the last kind of concert I would have expected to see this at, and it worries me that things like this will discourage touring acts from coming here, especially now that the acts that are coming here have been getting better and better.
Thankfully, this was not representative of the majority of fans in attendance, as they were passionately excited and appreciative in all the ways you should be at a show, and the love they gave Modest Mouse in return for such a strong performance is what will be remembered most about this night at the Aztec.
