Because I couldn’t be in two places at once, I asked YANP’s intern Liz Lane if she would mind attending and writing a review for the Monsters of Folk show in Louisville on Halloween. Here it is!

Monsters of Folk @ the Louisville Palace review by Liz Lane

There are very few concerts that one will experience in life that match up to that of Monsters of Folk on Halloween at the Louisville Palace Theater. And considering the fact that I shared this concert with a pair of glowing dancing robots, a handful of people in Jesus costumes, a human piñata, and other various get ups, it will be hard to beat.

Jim James, Conor Oberst, M Ward, Mike Mogis and drummer Will Johnson took the stage and immediately launched into “Say Please,” setting the tone for the night right from the start. The most enjoyable part of the show was that the Monsters mixed their set with songs from their own individual catalogs. Bright Eye’s “Soul Singer in a Session Band” was followed by M. Ward’s “Chinese Translation”, and both were sandwiched between a few MOF songs and so on. The guys constantly swapped instruments, appearing as four good friends having a fantastic time just jamming. The raw power of each member’s talent continued to wow the quirky Halloween audience for the nearly four hour show.

Continuing to mix things up from song to song, the supergroup played stripped down versions of their most well-known songs. M. Ward and Conor Oberst took to the stage alone, two of modern music’s most distinct voices harmonizing on each others’ songs. Jim James and M. Ward also paired up to sing Ward’s “One Life Away,” after which Ward stood solo, strumming and slapping his guitar to “100 Million Years.” This element of the show made it feel incredibly intimate, as if time had stood still for this event; never mind the other tour dates and shows. Capping off the first set, each Monster took a verse on Bright Eye’s “At the Bottom of Everything.” And being the hometown boy, Jim James received huge amounts of love from the audience and essentially brought the entire theater to its feet with a full band version of My Morning Jacket’s “Smokin’ from Shootin’.”

Leaving the stage for a twenty-minute intermission, we the audience stood in awe, totally unaware of what would assault our senses when the curtain rose again. When the band returned, each member was dressed in full KISS makeup and costume, paying homage to the Halloween night and rock’s bad asses. Jim James played a great Gene Simmons while Oberst stumbled around stage in eight-inch platform boots, the awkward Paul Stanley-clad Folk member. Trading off a couple of KISS songs for the most goth-rock version of “Another Travelin’ Song” ever to be witnessed live, the Monsters closed out the night with “Rock and Roll All Nite” (naturally). The crowd wanted more, but seeing as the show clocked in just around three hours and forty minutes, the boys were wiped. All in all, this was the best Halloween I’ve ever spent. Monsters of Folk’s show was a rare chance to see contemporary legends play together and clearly enjoy the experience. Undeniably talented and performing each song unrestrained, I’d be perfectly happy if Monsters of Folk took their part-time super group venture on the road full-time.