Rockin’ on the river

Music Row
By Brian Rademaekers

Over the last year there’s been a lot of talk about the Delaware River waterfront.
From rat-infested lots to the potential casino complexes and an imagined seven-mile string of parks, the long-neglected waterfront has been a topic in many a neighborhood.
And while there’s much hope (and skepticism) for the riverfront’s future, there’s also one riverfront gem already in place that often gets overlooked.
I’m talking about the Festival Pier, the northernmost stretch of the Penn’s Landing network. The Pier routinely hosts concerts that are raising its stature as a worthy venue on the city’s music scene. That was the case last Sunday with a performance by the band Modest Mouse.
The Festival Pier isn’t really much more than a few acres of concrete stretching along the river, with some fountains that work now and then. But when it comes to being a venue, there are few others like it.
There is, of course, the Tweeter Center across the river in Camden, providing a dazzling view of the Philly skyline.
The drawback of the Tweeter, though, is its sprawling size. Its thousands of square feet can leave you squinting from the back of a beer-soaked field at the little figures on the stage who presumably are the artists you paid big bucks to see.
At the Festival Pier, you won’t need binoculars.
In size, the venue is more like a seat-less amphitheater. The view takes in the river, wide and majestic with the leafy Jersey shoreline on the other side.
The intimacy of the Pier is hard to beat as well. A few summers back, I nearly had to catch Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs as she thrashed about on the stage, putting on an incredible show as boats bobbed on the river behind her.
So that’s the experience at the Festival Pier: a small, close-up venue in the great wide open.
Last week’s band, Modest Mouse, is a must-see band right now, no matter where they are playing. When they came to Philly in May, they played to a sold-out crowd at the Electric Factory, a testament to the wide appeal of their latest album.
Titled We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank, the album is, in a way, the second peak for a band that has been on the scene for 13 years. They first broke out to a wider audience in 1997 with The Lonesome Crowded West, on the hallowed K Records label.
As loyal fans know, there have been a number of great releases since then, but their latest has caught the most attention. That widespread popularity is due in part to the group’s signing with Sony’s Epic label a few years back.
Also elevating their status was the addition of the legendary Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr. He stunned the music world when he joined the Modest Mouse lineup for We Were Dead, and his presence has disappointed few.
This is not to say that a big label and a big name have made Modest Mouse what they are. They started out as a three-piece playing in a shed erected in a Washington State trailer park, and have been making a slow ascent ever since.
Much of that appeal is rooted in the quirky songwriting of lead vocalist Isaac Brock. Penning songs that are dark, spiritual and contradictory, Brock delivers them in an upbeat style that often belies their complex meaning.
With cool indie guitar riffs, danceable beats and Brock’s jerky, punkish vocals, it’s easy to see how Modest Mouse has found its way onto the iPods of 14-year-olds while still managing to please fans who have been listening since the 1990s.
And fans no doubt found the Festival Pier a pleasing atmosphere to enjoy the band. The riverfront venue has two more shows on the schedule — G Love and Special Sauce tonight (Aug. 23) at 7, followed by the Dropkick Murphys on Thursday, Sept. 13, starting at 8 p.m.
It’s a pleasant way to spend an evening. ••
For Festival Pier ticket information, visit www.ticketmaster.com