The show began with a mildly cacophonous overture on an empty stage to a packed crowd’s intense enthusiasm. “There’s a new punk in town,” announced the speakers as John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats, arrived on stage. Though it didn’t seem to make much of a difference to the audience, this was not Darnielle’s first grand entrance on stage. In fact, before his engaging set of densely lyrical songs spanning his career, he snuck out in the middle of the opening band (“We are Megafaun!”) Megafaun’s set and caused tangible joy both in the band members and the audience. 

The show, which occurred on Saturday at Castaway’s, began with North Carolina country-folk band Megafaun. The band, featuring brothers Brad and Phil Cook and Joe Westerlund, began with a folky song with a blunt drum-beat and a vaguely renaissance melody, which implied a direction perhaps a little different from the one the band actually ended up taking. Once Megafaun introduced a new song (though as they acknowledged, to this audience, that all the songs would be new, “We’re the opening band; we’re just here to have a good time and get you loose”) the set took better shape. The band hit its stride and engaged the audience, all the while maintaining a sweet sincerity keeping the audience in good favor and not too impatient.

The crowd did not have to wait through Megafaun’s set for a glimpse of headliner Darnielle. He appeared on stage, dancing awkwardly and beaming, mouthing the words along with the band. If anything, this only made the audience more enthusiastic for his later, more permanent arrival. While Mountain Goats performances often feature Darnielle alone, Saturday he brought a three man back up band — keyboard, drums and bass. While his solo shows certainly deliver, the extra instrumentation added complexity and depth to the performance.

He did though include a small subset of solo songs within the larger set. This middle section lent a nice structure to the show as a whole and allowed the audience access to the best of both sides of the artist.  

Darnielle peppered his set with anecdotal introductions to his songs, which ranged among his many albums. The singer’s distinctively nasal singing voice and commendable annunciation told characteristic stories, which he did not fail to demonstrate a sense of humor about. Particularly in reference to “The Monkey Song,” after which he joked about the important, realistic and underlying meaning of the cryptic lyrics. He also quipped about his neurotic tendencies, which cause uncomfortable predicaments. Early in the show, he stepped on his own shoelace untying it. He commented that he would pretend not to notice it, but he usually performed barefoot. Here however, he could not, as he cannot be barefoot on carpet due to one of his many obsessive-compulsive quirks. 

Quirky certainly describes Saturday’s concert, from Darnielle’s blazer decorated with punky patches to the music itself. While loudly screamed requests abounded, the band garnered particular cheer for songs “Damn These Vampires” and “This Year.” After a full set that lived up to the audience’s high expectations, Darnielle graciously left the stage.

Though this was not the end. Darnielle’s encore(s) (he came on for two) allowed him to add some last minute crowd favorites, including closing number “No Children,” and once again express his appreciation and affection for Megafaun. The Mountain Goats called the opening act onstage in their second and last encore to join them in the show’s penultimate song. Megafaun’s excitement was contagious, as well as Darnielle’s genuine good and inclusive spirit. Overall, the Mountain Goats, with opener Megafaun, gave a high spirited and good-natured performance. The Mountain Goats lived up to, if not exceeded, the audience’s expectations (if the screams were any indication). The true joy and love for the music and performance was evidence in both bands, making for a great show.