Congratulations, Alyssa R.! Your thoughtful commentary on this week’s Decemberists show won you the gatefold vinyl copy of The Crane Wife and a special, limited edition lithograph signed by the band! We were particularly fond of Alyssa’s social and political observations as they related to the show. Here’s what she had to say:

A couple of thoughts:

1)The material from “The Crane Wife” rocks a lot harder on stage than it does on the album, and while that may be unfortunate for the other 364 days of the year that I don’t see them live, it makes the Decemberists one of the most worth-while tickets around. I thought the sets were eve-of-Halloween cool, and I guess that’s one of the perks of signing with a major label, but I miss the old-school uniforms from the last tour. The band members seemed less personally invested in the aesthetic of the album, which made the history major in me a little sad, but…

2)The band, consciously or not, sounds significantly more political. On the 2005 tour, “Sixteen Military Wives” was snarky and funny, and it got the crowd dancing. There was a lot more anger in the lyrics last night, and the song was better for it. But even more kick-ass was the decision (among many good ones in a great set list) was to end the main show with a group sing-along to “Sons and Daughters.” It was kind of a hippie throwback, hundreds of folks singing “Here, all the bombs fade away,” over and over, but it was good. The problem with most of the songs that have come out of the Iraq war is that they’re purely angry. I’m not saying that Colin Meloy is channeling John Lennon “War is over if you want it”-style, but the shot of hope was a pretty exhilirating way to end the concert.

3) If you were on the far right edge of the stage, you would have seen Colin and Carson Ellis rocking out to the opener from the balcony. They were really into it and it was cute. Too bad baby Henry wasn’t in evidence.

4) I learned that a certain liberal political blogger is a friendly guy and good at taking compliments. I also met a cool long-time DCer with really great taste in novels (Nick Hornby) and radio (Sarah Vowell), and am kind of kicking myself for not getting his number.

We had an incredible pool of responses to this post. It was great to hear what everyone thought of the shows. It’s always great to get more than one person’s take on a show, so keep that commenting spirit alive. Thanks to everyone who left us such detailed annecdotes.

Photo by Kyle Gustafson