The Decemberists, the charming chamber folk-rock band from out of Portlandia, became famous for live performances as elaborate and detailed as their ornate songs, staging obscure battles or sea scenes with sudden appearances by man-eating whales into their shows.
There was none of that Wednesday as the band took the stage at Wolf Trap in Virginia, two years after they were originally supposed to play there, during the time when everything disappeared.
The title of the current excursion, “Arise from the Bunkers! 2022” was just about the most florid part of the tour. It was enough to be present, at long last, alive and performing before thousands of fans in the Virginia woods, even as they have given up for now the costumed accessories or even the notion of promoting any particular release — “I’ll Be Your Girl“, their eighth full length album, came out a full four years ago now.
But certainly the audience had no complaints about their straightforward approach to their solid, 17-song, 105 minute show.
The band has been sprinkling its sets this summer with selections from throughout its career (though sadly, nothing from 2015’s “What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World.”
“Hope you like the old ones,” said frontman Colin Meloy, as keyboardist Jenny Conlee strapped on her accordion and Chris Funk sat down to the pedal steel guitar for “Shiny,” the oldest song from their repertoire, from an an album that was mostly demos before they had a full recording contract.
They followed it, though, with a new song, about meeting someone at a burial ground.