The Mountain Goats - Union Chapel 8th December 2007

So, I finally got to see The Mountain Goats play live. Last night The Union Chapel played host to the Pineapple Folk Festival, featuring TMG, Micah P Hinson, Emmy The Great and Alisdair Roberts. With all due respect to the other artists though (and Emmy The Great played a very nice, if short, set) this, for me, was about finally seeing John Darnielle and Peter Hughes play their amazing songs live.

The Union Chapel is a beautiful venue, easily my favourite in London. The acoustics are as clear as you'll find anywhere and in between sets there is some lovely scenary to look at. The Goats arrived on stage at 8.30, wearing some smart suits which according to my girlfriend made Peter Hughes look like Nathan Petrelli from Heroes. John played acoustic guitar and sang and Peter played bass.

They opened with 'Wild Sage' from last year's 'Get Lonely' LP, John singing with the hushed whisper/gasp in evidence throughout that album. As the set progressed we were treated to some real favourites including 'Dance Music', 'Jenny' and 'This Year'. The atmosphere was fantastic, the auidence were so enthusiastic and John seemed really happy and looked to be enjoying himself immensely.. One of the highlights was him moving away from the microphone during 'Maybe Sprout Wings' to sing unamplified, the Church was so silent that you could hear him clearly and the effect was spine-tingling.

For the closing song of the main set they played 'Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton', yes, complete with the 'Hail Satan' singalong ending and were joined on stage by Eddie Argos from Art Brut. The only complaint I have was that the set wasn't longer, but it was great that a) John said they would be back in 2008 and b) the title track of the new LP 'Heretic Pride' was played and was absolutely brilliant...very lively and upbeat too.

This was a wonderful night, one of the best sets I have seen and I hope John enjoyed it as much as us fans did.

Full review of the Pineapple Folk night later in the week, but for now, here is the TMG setlist...

Wild Sage
Tollund Man
The Recognition Scene
You or Your Memory
Cobscook Bay
Love Love Love
Heretic Pride
Tulsa Imperative
Jenny
Dance Music
Maybe Sprout Wings
This Year
The Best Ever Death Metal band in Denton (with Eddie Argos from Art Brut)

Encore: Houseguest