The Decemberists @ The Greek 05/01/15

[El Dingo]

I love The Greek.

The parking gods smiled on us when I got frustrated and made an illegal U-turn 3 blocks away from the venue. Just then a street-parked car pulled out and gave us the spot that must have infuriated everyone ahead of and behind us.

We threw down a blanket and parked ourselves in the front 'row' of the lawn.

The opening band "Lucius" were uninspiring but the crowd liked them.

The Decemberists had a nice 3-D backdrop of a building with window cut-outs and stylistic characters inside. The lights complimented the set and players. No video projections or cameras were used.

I had spent the day listening to my Decemberists playlist and did not recognize the first third of the show. They have a new album which I have only listened to twice. The music was so good I didn't care. Eventually they launched into their "Hazards of Love" suite which revved the crowd and 'metaled' up the performance. They then played more familiar songs like "16 Military Wives" and "O Valencia" before finishing the set.

Not to worry!

They returned to a standing ovation and performed "The Mariner's Revenge" complete with a cut-out whale and explicit instructions to the audience when to perform the 'being swallowed by a whale scream'.

One of the best shows I've seen in a while.

[Drunk Monk]

I love The Greek.

i totally feel ya, bro. when you get one of *those sunsets* over SF, the greek is the most beautiful venue in the bay. and the acoustics are fantastic.

extra points for being blessed by the parking gods. that's the major downside of the greek. i can get employee parking when i'm working there, otherwise i usually park blocks away in fraternity row and hike in. i heard they opened a new garage under the soccer field right next door and parking was only $6 for alabama shakes. that'll surely change soon, if it hasn't already.