John Darnielle is one of the most inspirational artists currently plying their trade in the live arena. Staggeringly, on top of his extensive musical output over the decades of studio recordings, he’s also a talented writer and the string running throughout everything is the creative tint he offers to whatever he turns his hand to. His 33 1/3 instalment took an innovative approach to the series and turned Black Sabbath into the basis for an engaging narrative and his albums follow a similar theme. It seems that the quantity never diminishes the returns as far as The Mountain Goats are concerned.
It’s been a little while since Darnielle was in the UK in a musical capacity and this week sees his live return with a new album, ‘Beat The Champ’, tucked firmly under his belt. A relatively stripped-back affair, the new material continues to build upon the narratives which run throughout every Mountain Goats release. Whether it’s autobiographical or entirely rooted in fiction, Darnielle is one of the last great storytellers. In a world of instant gratification, everything about The Mountain Goats is based on the slow-build of story and this tour is sure to provide numerous shows which will be a late contender for the ‘show of the year’ awards.
The full your itinerary is as follows:
November
12th - Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
13th - The Art School, Glasgow
14th - Whelan's, Dublin
15th - Gorilla, Manchester
17th - Trinity, Bristol
18th - Komedia, Brighton
19th - O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire, London