Continuing with theme, this one has been "borrowed" from a 2002 Nelly concert review.

Pint-size rapper Isaac Brock has tasted success twice so far. First with The Moon and Antarctica and now with the meteoric rise of his latest release, Good News for People Who Love Bad News. Both albums don't blaze any new trails, but Issaquah native Isaac was able to infuse a unique flair while showcasing his predatory sexual prowess mixed up with a edgy power funk groove. Take him out of the studio and put him on the road might turn into a risky venture. But the machine must move forward - for better or for worse.

Big on attitude, but lacking a presence of many of his contemporaries, Brock and Modest Mouse stutter-stepped onto the fog drenched stage. With ear to ear smile, backward baseball cap and trademark band-aid on his left cheek, Brock crunched the lyrics to "Paper Thin Walls." The rest of the band ably backed their leader with loosely scripted moves that relied upon the spontaneity of the music to inspire them. Brock seemed a bit stiff and rigid in his presentation, although he seems to genuinely enjoy performing in front of a large and lively audience. With some laid back humor, Modest Mouse ran through the hits until the high point of the evening came up on deck. "Float On" claimed its stake as the anthem of the last year. Brock's voice seemed to pick-up where his slickly produced albums left off. His rhythmic inflections swayed with every gyrating hip movement on stage. At the end, Modest Mouse only got better. Bursting with more energy and displaying a more genuine stage presence, they proved that you don't need too much swearing or a radical political message to get the message across.

Modest Mouse made the bounce in the music compliment the clever rhymes in their lyrics- a simple idea that is totally lost on a lot of hip-hop and rap artists clogging the minds and CD collections of millions of today's fans.

But seriously...


SET LIST:

"Paper Thin Walls"
"Bury Me With It"
"Third Planet"
"Interstate 8"
"Doin' the Cockroach"
"Satin in a Coffin"
"Bukowski"
"Dramamine"
"The World at Large"
"One Chance"
"The View"
"Float On"
"Black Cadillacs"

Encore: "Out of Gas," "I Came as a Rat," and "The Ocean Breaths Salty"


RANDOM NOTES

- Woah, Brock's microphone isn't glowing tonight.
- "They added another show. We could be here every night until New Years. Christmas Eve is going to be damn depressing."
- Number of random high-fives from people I may or may not know: 2
- Number of times a random stranger stopped to brush something off my shoulder: 1
- After four straight nights of Modest Mouse, I don't want to hear their music for a month. I have officially overdosed on emo.


FUN WITH QUICKTIME

Click the Snuggle Bear float below to sing along with "Float On" (recorded during Thursday night's show). Be foreword, the quality of the video is probably not up to the Snuggle Bear's "snuggly soft" standards.



"Click on my snuggly-soft stocking," said the Snuggle Bear.

Night # 3? Here. Night # 2? Here. Night # 1? Here.