#also i loveeee the mountain goats. if perchance you couldn't tell

[fructidors]

HI so i'm thinking about burning a CD with live versions of mountain goats songs, however i am not well-versed in the world of the mountain goats so. what would you recommend? (the CD can be up to 80 minutes long :))

YEAHHHH so as you're probably aware the world of mountain goats live recordings is unimaginably expansive and i am by most standards an amateur at traversing it BUT i do have lots of advice :D

there really is no such thing as a bad mountain goats show. even the ones with awful crowds or where the band isn't doing so great are bound to have some very very bright spots. at the same time, the mountain goats have a 30+ year touring history, with lineups varying from john alone, to the full four-piece current permanent ensemble, to the five-piece current touring ensemble, to on one remarkable occasion john with a medieval a cappella quartet, to absolutely everywhere in between, so everyone is bound to have their own tastes.

as such, a really good way to find tmg shows is to just look through the mountain goats wiki! they have over 1500 shows listed, the general majority of which have archive.org recordings. they also have every live show any particular song was played at listed-- most of my favorite shows i've found through looking through all the various performances of my favorite songs. there are also a lot of great recs over on r/themountaingoats. but here are some of my personal favorites:

the bottom of the hill shows!! the bottom of the hill is a small venue in san francisco that the mountain goats have played at quite a few times over the years, and for some combination of reasons the shows there always turn out ridiculously special. any mountain goats fan will point a new tmg live listener to the bottom of the hill. the rather infamous recording of no children sung entirely by the crowd took place there in 2006. the recording of california song i sent you was from a show there in 2014-- which by the way contains the entirety of transmissions from horace (an early tape that was later released as part of the compilation ghana), which is why there might be a lot of songs you don't recognize, and also why they played so many fan favorites to close it out (as compensation)(denton AND you were cool. WHAT A NIGHT). everything from no children on in that recording is pure gold. the show there from the next night is roughly the same in content but the rendition of the best ever death metal band in denton they close with is one of my favorite live tracks of all time. and finally a show there from 2008 was videoed in full by paste magazine!! (here is the archive.org version for audio files) this is SUCH a good show oh my god. the two really standout numbers in my opinion are not actually by the mountain goats-- one is ace of base's defining europop number the sign, which has been. drastically reimagined by the mountain goats. the bottom of the hill performance is punctuated with stories about john's own personal history with the song (which, if that appeals, check out this version too), and is just generally iconic. and also intense. SPEAKING OF INTENSE the other is houseguest-- which is a song by franklin bruno (who john was/is in a band called the extra glens/glenns/lens with) that john has played live quite a bit. this particular performance is really just my favorite because you get to watch john stalk around and lean out over the crowd like a vulture or perhaps some kind of crow. for the audio alone honestly i would recommend the version from this 2008 show. (fun fact about me personally the first time my mom ever left baby me alone with my dad overnight was to go to this exact show!! i am still mad at her for not taking me)

the fall 2005 tour!! the really cool thing about this tour is that at the time, the mountain goats were still comprised of just john darnielle and peter hughes (bassist), so typically live shows were very stripped down and a far cry from the aforementioned five-person full band they tour as now. but on this tour, their opener, the prayers and tears of arthur digby sellers, joined them for a few songs each set, which meant they had much fuller band (DRUMS!! MORE GUITAR!!) while also still being very much sunset tree-era mountain goats and BOY is it special. highlights include: the version of tollund man from toronto which doesn't feature the larger band, but john does incorporate a mangled paraphrase of the final couplet of shakespeare's sonnet 73 (this thou perceivest, which makes thy love more strong / to love that well which thou must leave ere long) into the song; the performance of palmcorder yajna from the same night where john replaces the "send somebody out for soda" line with "send somebody out for ATIVAN;" and of course, against pollution knitting factory halloween 2005 (audio). you probably noticed me posting the youtube video of this every day of october. it's my second favorite tmg live recording of all time (after bottom of the hill california song). john is in a priest costume which adds the most je ne sais quoi ever to the song (which is about going to church and shooting a guy. amongst other things). the video and audio are not clear at all but you must understand that is what makes this performance SO. it's SOOOO. in conclusion:

(do christians have high holidays. i'm so jewish i'm sorry)

the webster hall 2009 show!! this show's from the life of the world to come tour which is why there are so many songs named after bible verses (unsure how familiar you are with the life of the world to come but i feel like it has some you vibes). they were touring with violinist owen pallet at the time which means we get going to bristol & hebrews 11:14 with string accompaniment!!!! this show literally never fails but the absolute highlights for me are deuteronomy 2:10 (although deuteronomy 2:10 is one of my favorite songs in the entire mountain goats canon so it's rare to come across a version i dislike), enoch 18:14 (which is actually an unreleased outtake from lotwtc-- the version you see online the most is from the lotwtc film but this one is full-band and prefaced by a long john story about video games)(if the latter appeals, i'd check out thank you mario), quito (which is probably best appreciated as part of the larger we shall all be healed album but the full-band version here SHINES), and of course full band going to georgia!!! i understand solo going to georgia purists so so well and there really is nothing like shouting the words back to just john and his guitar but there is SOMETHING in full band going to georgia that i suspect is rather close to real actual apotheosis. if the former appeals more though i am emotionally attached to the version from last august because i was there (one of only 7 times he's played it since 2012!) and it was the best day of my life but objectively this 2007 version is probably better.

also!! i've done something very similar with a tape! it's probably the most care i've ever put into a tracklist and remains one of my favorite tapes i've ever made-- finding tracks for it is how i found most of what i just recommended :) here's the setlist:

ignore the blank spot i tried to put in abandoned flesh from the aforementioned august show i went to but it turned out really bad for some reason so i wanted to put in shower from the show two days before john got married but then i forgot. anyways YEAH THAT'S ABOUT IT! lmk if you want more specific reqs or about any mountain goats thoughts ever anytime :DDD

#can you tell i love parentheticals. my beautiful wife parentheticals. #also i loveeee the mountain goats. if perchance you couldn't tell #thank you for the ask this was so much fun to put together <33