» The Mountain Goats offer rarities, covers at Hopscotch 2012
At Hopscotch, John Darnielle will play two sets by himself on the same night in Fletcher Opera Theater. He will perform solo, mostly with an acoustic guitar, offering the sort of rarities that the band’s most devoted fans howl for at every show, full rock band or no. “If you have been to a North Carolina Mountain Goats solo set, you already know about that kind of set and bear the marks on your body to prove it,” Darnielle says. “Come on out and get your wounds re-opened.”
The second set, however, will be unlike any in the 20-year history of the Mountain Goats—all covers, possibly all on Fletcher’s beautiful grand piano, all by himself. A lifelong metal fan and longtime columnist for the extreme music magazine Decibel, Darnielle says he plans to spend a portion of the summer arranging and learning covers of heavy metal songs. “The tentative title for this set,” Darnielle says, “is ‘Nearer My Hateful Mankind Plague to Thee,’ but titles are subject to change.
“There used to be a line on some old noise albums, something to the effect of, ‘If you are remotely interested in the contents of this package, you should not hesitate to buy it,’” he continues. “I don’t like to give a hard sell, but that’s this set. I will see you there.”
mountain_goats: having a big fake pit full of people being stage-managed to look psyched sucks & is an insult to live music in general
