I went and saw Modest Mouse play at Prince bandroom in St Kilda, Melbourne, last night, and I’ve got to say, I was pretty disappointed with their performance.

If I’m going to fork out $70 of my hard-earned cash to go see a band live, then I expect them to at least pretend that they’re trying to put on a good show. Rather, last night Modest Mouse frontman Isaac Brock came out on stage (noticeably intoxicated) and proceeded to talk about children with leukaemia (?!?), how many legs were in the room and other bands that “come out and just nail it live’’ (which came as somewhat ironic given the evening’s proceedings). As he rambled, the rest of the band just toyed away at their instruments in an apathetic fashion.

While a shoddy mix didn’t do the band any favours, Brock seemed disinterested in performing at times, bumbling through the lyrics to some of the band’s most popular songs including `Dashboard’. At one point, he actually asked the audience if he could `have a puff on a cigarette’ between songs, and then proceeded to turn his back to the audience so he could chat with one of his bandmates. I personally found this really rude, as it kind of put up a barrier between the band and the audience and suggested Modest Mouse really were not interested in creating a positive rapport with the audience that night. And while Brock came off as somewhat obnoxious at times, he was still far more entertaining than his peers, who mostly stood sour-faced and silent the entire night.

However, to their credit, Modest Mouse did give fans value for money by performing for over two hours last night (I was absolutely knackered driving home afterwards at around 1 in the morning). I also didn’t realise Modest Mouse performed live with two drummers, Joe Plummer and Jeremiah Martin Green, and found it entertaining watching the two play different rhythms simultaneously (one would use shakers while the other would play the drums more conventionally). They also provided a diverse setlist, with songs spanning their entire career.

So, I suppose I was disappointed more with their onstage behaviour and lack of enthusiasm rather than their ability to play their instruments. Still, one mediocre gig every once in a while is to be expected.

I still have Parklife and Harvest festival coming up later in the year, and I’ll certainly be letting you know all about those when they come around.