On June 16th, 1988, José González requested a private meeting with Frank Goodish. Goodish was better known as Bruiser Brody, an international superstar in the world of professional wrestling who was often disliked as much by promoters as he was beloved by his hardcore followers. González grappled in Puerto Rico as “Invader #1.” The details of the conflict are unknown, but González allegedly hid a knife under a towel as the men met in the shower of the wrestling locker room. Almost three decades later, John Darnielle wrote about the conclusion of that meeting, with a song titled “Stabbed to Death Outside San Juan.”
The Mountain Goats are currently touring behind their Beat the Champ album, where Darnielle chronicles some of the more macabre elements of territorial professional wrestling from the 1970s and 1980s – along with the death of Frank Goodish, he also wrote about The Sheik, infamous in Detroit for his bloody matches and fire throwing exploits, and perhaps inspired by Terry Funk and Jerry Lawler, penned a song based upon the lyrical hook, “I’m gonna stab you in the eye with a foreign object.” It makes sense that Darnielle would be attracted to the heightened emotional elements of professional wrestling (there are no songs about Dory Funk, Jr. and Jack Brisco trading arm bars), his stock in trade is teenage existential angst. Darnielle doesn’t write traditional love songs or folkie political numbers. He specializes in gut level emotions – depression, struggle, triumph, survival. It almost seems that as a musician, he needs to build straw men to have something to tear apart.
Darnielle was in fine form at this Dallas gig, basking in the glow of his revenge of the nerd cult stardom. His sharp band wasn’t chop heavy, but performed Darnielle’s latest forays into baroque chamber pop and jazz chord progressions with crisp precision. The show started with the Dusty Rhodes “Hard Times” promo being played, then the band came onstage and gave the geographical nod “Blues in Dallas” from the 2002 All Hail West Texas album. Darnielle doesn’t write traditional big chorus sing along material, but many in the crowd sang every word, often leaning hard into the payoff lines about revenge and conquest. After several songs with the band, including the amazing emotional breakdown of “Heel Turn 2,” Darnielle did a set of solo acoustic numbers, adroitly moving from an ironic version of “Mamas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys” to the traumatic “Maybe Spout Wings.”
On a personal level, I have never travelled too deeply into the Mountain Goats catalogue, but that wasn’t necessary to understand and appreciate what this show was really about. Fundamentally, it was about John Darnielle’s love of performing and an audience that loved him for his unique artistic vision. It was a young crowd filled with hipsters and nerds and perhaps people that fall comfortably into both categories. They didn’t come to dance or bang their heads, they came to hear someone that speaks in both a clear and peculiar manner about universal emotional battles. They needed to sing with their hero “I’m gonna make it through this year if it kills me” and I hope that they all do.
Grade – A- (docked a notch for not performing “The Legend of Chavo Guerrero)
Setlist:
Blues in Dallas
Cry for Judas Animal Mask Love Love Love Get Lonely Heel Turn 2 Absolute Lithops Effect Mamas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys Maybe Sprout Wings Cotton Never Quite Free Fire Editorial Stabbed to Death Outside San Juan Fire Editorial Slow West Vultures Up the Wolves Game Shows Touch Our Lives Amy AKA Spent Gladiator
First Encore:
Southwestern Territory
Foreign Object No Children
Second Encore:
This Year
The Diaz Brothers Spent Gladiator 2
