Monsters of Folk - In Review

A sold-out Stubb’s audience gathered Friday to hear the gospel of the Monsters of Folk in the band’s last scheduled US stop on this tour. In concert with the religious themes running throughout their debut album, the men themselves seem to take the form of evangelists on stage, preaching their modern-day folklore and bewilderment of the universe. Jim James, M. Ward, Conor Oberst, Mike Mogis and Austin’s own Will Johnson dominated the stage for almost 3 hours, playing almost every song from their album plus a healthy mix of songs from the guys’ separate bands.

Hear This Weekend

This weekend, fabulous music is happening. Tonight, Thao & The Get Down Stay Downs are playing at the Mohawk. If you like Rachael Yamagata's voice and wish she was backed by an indie rock band, you should be at this show right now!

Tomorrow, I'll be hitting up the incredible Monsters of Folk show at Stubb's. This is the last show they're scheduled to play for this tour in the US, so it should be a ton of fun. Based on reviews of shows in other cities, it'll be 2 and a half hours of straight M.o.F., Bright Eyes, My Morning Jacket, She & Him and Ward solo stuff - also known as, incredible, lyrically driven music with beautiful, emotive layers. This stuff is gonna get you in the guttural sense, so be prepared!

Sunday, I'll be front and center for Peter Bjorn and John at La Zona Rosa. Since this is their special 10th Birthday tour (10 years of the band being together), they have had lots of special guests show up for their shows. Expect dancing, tons of energy and earnestness from the band, catchy hooks and great use of a drum machine, and did I mention dancing? Swollen ankle be damned, I'll be shakin' a leg! Follow the band on Twitter for a chance to win tickets to the show - they do giveaways before all of their shows.
See you at the shows, Austin.

Monsters of Folk devour Austin!

The fabulous indie folk supergroup Monsters of Folk, composed of Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis from Bright Eyes, Jim James from My Morning Jacket, and M. Ward, is going to perform at Stubb's on Friday, November 13th - lucky for us, eh? Eh??

In all seriousness, this show promises to be excellent. An Evening With Monsters of Folk is described on the group's website as

Conor Oberst, Jim James, M Ward and Mike Mogis will be a 2 1/2 hour musical event showcasing brand new songs from the forthcoming album as well as songs fans have come to enjoy from their respective Bright Eyes, My Morning Jacket and M Ward catalogues.

Too cool for words, kids. Personally, Conor Oberst and Bright Eyes win my heart every time, but I'm also a longtime fan of My Morning Jacket and am slowly becoming addicted to M. Ward's latest release, Hold Time as well as some of his back catalog. These four men are some of the best wordsmiths of our generation. They sing political songs, they sing songs about finding your way in the world, they sing songs about what it means to be human, what it means to be alive. If you've ever found yourself soul-searching, if you've found yourself confused as to what the modern world expects from you, you'll find something on the group's self-titled album that will speak to you, I guarantee. I cannot WAIT for this show! Buy tickets here.

Expect a review of that, plus two back-to-back Peter Bjorn and John shows I'm going to the weekend of November 13th through 15th. It's going to be epic.