The big show tonight, Modest Mouse w/ Mason Jennings and Cass McCombs at Sokol Auditorium for a show that's long been sold out. As mentioned earlier, I tried to interview Modest Mouse as support for this show, but was turned down by the publicist at Sony, who suggested that I do a live review instead. Fact is, our boy Isaac Brock rarely does interviews these days, and only for the big guys. For those looking for data, here's my classic 1998 interview with Isaac, before the band signed to Sony (the trick, see, is to get them while they're young). And below is a preview I wrote that appeared in this week's edition of The Reader:

What to look forward to tonight? Well here's the Minneapolis Star Tribune review of Sunday night's show. The summary: "The Seattle/Portland, Ore. group's sold-out performance Sunday night at First Avenue in Minneapolis was, well, modest. Its lead singer, Isaac Brock, was, well mousy. And, all told, the 80-minute performance was largely underwhelming, much less satisfying than the group's million-selling, Grammy-nominated, critically acclaimed CD."

Hmm. Doesn't sound too promising. How 'bout a review of last Wednesday's show in St. Louis from the Washington University paper. The summary: "Aside from sporadic impassioned outbursts by Brock, the band members seemed reticent and unenthusiastic. And there was absolutely no interplay between the group and the audience, other than an obligatory 'How you doin' tonight?'"

Uh, oh…

Come on, they can't all be negative reviews. Here's one from Arizona Daily Wildcat. The summary: "Throughout the show, Brock (historically an unsteady live performer, a.k.a. drunk performer) conducted the band, including an additional percussionist and backup singer/upright bass player, with as much passion as he put into performing."

There ya go! Apparently last week's show in Kansas City lasted 100 minutes, so you're in for a long night. It's very unlikely that I'll be attending this one. So instead of a review, look here tomorrow for a feature on Seattle's United State of Electronica.

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