After the Decemberists finished playing their new song “Burial Ground” — an ode to hanging out in graveyards — frontman Colin Meloy mused about the crowd vibe Tuesday night at Stage AE in Pittsburgh.
“I hope I didn’t bring people down,” he joked.
There was little chance of that happening, as an almost fully packed house showed their appreciation for the eclectic folk rockers’ first Pittsburgh show since 2018. Their A Peaceable Kingdom tour just launched on April 30 with dates through August.
The Decemberists are releasing their first new album in six years, “As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again,” on June 14, with three singles already released. The latest, “All I Want Is You,” opened the show, as Meloy was joined up front by backing vocalist Lizzy Ellison and Victor Nash on trumpet for a tender version of the straight-forward love song.
The rest of the band — Jenny Conlee, Chris Funk, John Moen and Nate Query — then gathered at the front of the stage for acoustic versions of “Shankill Butchers” and “The Bachelor and the Bride.”
The band’s versatility was on full display all night long, with plenty of instrument changes: Conlee alternated between accordion and keyboards, Funk played guitar, banjo, pedal steel and saxophone, Query was on bass guitar and a standup bass and Moen even played guitar on one song in addition to drumming.
Throughout the night, Meloy engaged the audience, whether it was referencing Ice Spice, the fate of English majors or naming all three rivers of Pittsburgh’s confluence (although he did struggle with Monongahela).
“I know to make my local references to win over the crowd,” he joked.
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Crowd favorites included “The Crane Wife 1” and “16 Military Wives,” which elicited the most phones shooting up and had the loudest crowd singalong featuring a battle between the floor and balcony (handily won by the floor).
Beyond the softer numbers, the Decemberists showed off their influences with the synth-y rocker “Severed” and the heavy “The Queen’s Rebuke/The Crossing,” which had Ellison on lead vocals.
With a mix of songs from throughout their career, they made sure to highlight their upcoming album, playing all three songs that have been issued as singles, plus a pair of yet-to-be-released songs, “Oh No!” and “Long White Veil.”
After a quick encore break, the Decemberists closed with the sprawling “Joan in the Garden,” a 19-minute song from the new album. Starting without Funk or Query for about four minutes, the prog song’s slowly builds into a nice payoff. It then turned into a wall of distortion/feedback for a few minutes with the band silhouetted in the dark against the backdrop, until returning for a rocking ending (try not hearing “Breaking the Law” by Judas Priest).
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Chicago indy rockers Ratboys opened the show, with singer Julia Steiner sporting a Steelers winter hat, just as she did at last year’s show at Bottlerocket Social Hall in Allentown.
Introducing the title track from last year’s “The Window” album, Steiner shared it was about her grandparents, who hailed from East Liberty (and spurred her Steelers fandom). Other highlights included “It’s Alive” and the set-closing “Black Earth, WI,” which allowed guitarist David Sagan to show off with a lengthy solo.
