Stories of professional wrestling, addiction and paranoia all found a harmonious home on Saturday night at the Wonder Ballroom in Portland as The Mountain Goats returned as a four-piece band. Touring in support of Beat The Champ, the band’s new album about the professional wrestlers who singer/songwriter John Darnielle worshipped as a child, the concert featured a mixture of new wrestling themed songs, as well as energetic takes on fan favorites.
The band opened with “Blood Capsules,” a bonus track off Beat the Champ, followed by a bass heavy rendition of “Cry for Judas” from 2012’s Transcendental Youth. As is required by all great wrestlers, “Heel Turn 2” received an extended introduction as Darnielle cautioned the crowd to, “Never trust anyone who says there are only two types of people, unless it’s in professional wrestling. Then there are. There are good guys, and there are bad guys. That’s why we like wrestling, it boils it all down to two types of people.”
At the end of the song, bassist Peter Hughes finished playing his part and subtly exited the stage. The rest of the band followed suit, leaving Darnielle alone at the piano before he transitioned into a solo portion of the set including “Damn These Vampires” from All Eternals Deck. After beginning the night with a fairly energetic display, the toned down solo portion maintained the audience’s engagement.
Darnielle controls the crowd not by being a flashy entertainer, but by being an endearing storyteller who earns the crowd’s undivided attention. When he sings, the crowd sings along with a baffling display of lyrical knowledge, and when the music quiets down, the venue responds with rapt silence. Darnielle briefly stumbled upon the lyrics of two consecutive songs, which the crowd quickly assisted in correcting. Few cell phones left the pockets and purses they rightfully should dwell in during a concert.
During the encore, the crowd reached its boiling point and sang louder than Darnielle’s microphone, to the delight of the band. The venue was hot and humid but it did little to prevent the crowd from dancing and jumping, adding to the thick air.
“This Year” was sung with a sped up intensity not found on the recorded version. “Up The Wolves” similarly pressed on with added jazz cymbal flourishes from drummer Jon Wurster.
After the first encore ended with “Amy aka Spent Gladiator 1,” the crowd attempted to will the band back for more, but as the lights flickered on, Wurster popped through the black curtain. The final song of the night was “No Children,” which Darnielle expressed his wish to one day play alongside Van Morrison.
There is something inexplicable about being in a room full of people gleefully chanting lines such as “I hope you die, I hope we both die,” and “I personally will stab you in the eye with a foreign object” with tightly shut eyes cast upwards at the vaulted ceilings and smiles plastered across their faces. The stories Darnielle crafts are engaging, and it doesn’t matter if they are about wrestling, addiction or love; the songs are always going to force smiles and empower people to dance in a carefree manner.
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