The Mountain Goats

I’ve seen many, many live shows in my time but it’s hard to remember a band with more fanatical followers than John Darnielle’s The Mountain Goats. Darnielle’s released thirteen or fourteen studio albums since launching his band back in the early 90s, with his records normally following the same pattern of passionate and wordy lyrics, acoustic guitars aggressively strummed and communal, rousing choruses on songs that cover all of human life, from everyday vignettes to musings on religion. The likes of Tallahassee and All Hail West Texas are the apex of Darnielle’s vision, and quite the ride to listen to. When it comes to seeing The Mountain Goats live, be prepared for the person next to you to holler along word-for-word to each and every song. Darnielle switches between full-band shows and ones where it’s just himself and long-time partner Peter Hughes delivering stripped down versions of ‘Linda Blair Was Innocent’, and the biblical and beautiful duo of ‘In Memory of Satan’ and ‘Genesis 30:3’. The show is bound to finish on the euphoric sing-along of ‘No Children’, and Darnielle often goes walkabout in the crowd for the affecting ‘California Song’. It’s a rollercoaster of emotion and it’ll leave you exhausted, and you may come away as a new Mountain Goats fanatic.

When it comes to cult indie bands, they don’t really come too much more distinguished than The Mountain Goats, which has for a long time effectively been the solo project of singer John Darnielle. Having released fourteen full-lengths to date, the band are also a fine example of good things coming to those who wait; it wasn’t until album number six, the seminal All Hail West Texas, that they really broke through both critically and commercially, and on the 2002 follow-up Tallahassee, they really solidified their position, signing to 4AD and expanding into a full band in the studio for the first time.
They’ve continued to tour prodigiously too, with Darnielle performing both solo and with the band over the years; their most recent UK jaunt came last October, when they finally got around to bringing their most recent record, 2012’s Transcendental Youth, to these shores. Not that they leaned on it too heavily, though, the setlists were genuinely career-spanning affairs, with the recently-reissued All Hail West Texas and the bible-referencing The Life of the World to Come both featuring heavily. After releasing his debut novel, Wolf in White Van, Darnielle is currently touring it in the U.S.; hardcore Goats fans will be hoping he extends that to the UK, too.

There are few indie bands that can boast the same level of cult mentality as The Mountain Goats. The Californian folk/rock outfit have been working the circuit for just over 25 years and with an unchanged lineup and consistency in their discography, they are one of the most well tuned trios currently working. It is quite surprising to believe their music has made little to no impact on the UK charts when you look around at the gathered, anticipating crowd here to see the band this evening.

The group is as unassuming and humble as ever as they step out to the growing cheers of the room, finding the whole scenario rather amusing as they begin 'Song For Dana Plato' and 'Fall of the Star High School Running Back' almost back to back and they receive double the reaction at its finale. They play a fantastically varied setlist, lifting at least one track from almost all of their albums and their time on the road has seen them develop the show into a succinct operation where all the music successfully blends. The standout performance of 'Shadow Song' is saved for the encore with its mournful tones and heavy guitar riffs really demonstrating the band's quiet power.

One of the best live indie bands around. If you like them even a little bit, see them live. Their music comes to life in unexpected ways when they perform. You think of them as kind of low key, but on stage the songs expand with great energy. I've seen them 3 times and it always feels special - even on this 2019 tour that features a lot more of their current easy listening tunes than I care for.

The whole band brings infectious energy to their shows, especially John Darnielle with this joyful bouncing and facial expressions. And his banter is first-rate, as anyone who's watched him intro No Children in a YouTube video knows well. Best of all, all this energy and excitement and fun lasts for 2 hours! Sometimes more!

It was awesome! Passionate, funny, charasmatic, interactive performance AND crowd. It was the first time I've seen an audience quiet down for, pay attention to, and really appreciate an opening band they weren't familiar with. It was also the first time in a standing room only part of the venue that I've seen nobody bump into or push each other to get closer to the stage/performer. Everyone just stood in their general places having a good time and being respectful of one another's personal space, singing along only when the songs called for it but enthusiastically when they did. It was a very unique and homey experience that I would really recommend to any Mountain Goats fan, casual or hardcore.

Great show! Their setlist was a great mix of old and new, they played with enthusiasm, and John delivered his typical, intelligent banter throughout the set. The crowd was also great, and John made mention of his appreciation several times. They played a long set with two strong encore performances, and they intertwined their slower songs well with their upbeat, faster tunes that had the whole pit bouncing around with ear-to-ear smiles. Everything you could possibly want from seeing this band!

I saw The Mountain Goats live in Amsterdam, and it was quite frankly the best concert of my life. The energy of the band, getting to see the songs I love so much come to life on stage, the banter, the crowd interactions, the kind of audience where I felt 100% safe jumping up and down to The Diaz Brothers and silently sobbing to that one song they refuse to release. The last song of the set was The Best Ever Death Metal Band In Denton, and it left us all feeling dazed and euphoric.

Had such a good time, the band was really enjoying themselves so we did too. I brought a friend who had never listened to the Mountain Goats and she had a great experience. Only downside was that some members of the crowd were being disrespectful, which is not something that usually happens when seeing The Mountain Goats, but overall great set and great time. We got to sing to a snake statue as the final encore, which was a plus.

There is no better experience than seeing the Mountain Goats live. Seeing them in Bloomington, IN is definitely an experience; John Darnielle was born here, so the energy is elemental. I've been lucky enough to see them just about every year since 2012, and this show delivered. The setlist featured some of Jon Wurster's best drumming on Cotton, Magpie, and Sicilian Crest. Gorgeous, emotional, healing. This tour is killer.

A gratifyingly rock 'n' roll performance from The Mountain Goats, with occasional saxophonic frenzies and frenetic guitar. Highlights from the new album included "Andrew Eldritch Is Moving Back to Leeds" and "Paid in Cocaine". The high point was the second encore, with soul-stirring renditions of "This Year" and "The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton".