With summer still hanging on in the Pacific Northwest, Modest Mouse transformed their night at McMenamins Edgefield in Troutdale into something between a backyard sing-along and a sprawling indie rock showcase. Their co-headline run with The Flaming Lips was winding down—just a few evenings at the band’s own Psychic Salamander festival left after these two Oregon nights—and you could sense the hometown energy in the crowd chatter as the sun dipped behind the trees.

They kicked things off with “Dogbed/Sheetrock,” a murky, slow-burn opener that gave way to the instant release of their massive hit, “Float On.” From there the band darted across eras with ease: the winding sprawl of “Trucker’s Atlas” from *The Lonesome Crowded West; the weary sweetness of “Little Motel” off *We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank*; and the punchy chaos of “Fuck Your Acid Trip” from *The Golden Casket*. The sequencing made the show feel less like a nostalgia trip and more like a carefully shuffled mixtape, restless but intentional.

“Tiny Cities Made of Ashes” pulsed with bass and clattering percussion, Isaac Brock hollering like he was daring the song to run off the rails. And gifts for die-hards like “Broke” and “Baby Blue Sedan” were some deep cuts that drew knowing cheers from pockets of the lawn. Even when the guitars blurred a bit in the open air, Brock’s ragged, metallic voice kept cutting through.

This tour was billed as a victory lap for indie veterans, especially with *Good News for People Who Love Bad News* marking a twenty year anniversary. But at Edgefield, it didn’t feel like a band coasting on its history. Closing with “Gravity Rides Everything,” they left the crowd swaying and quiet, the song’s gentle drift reminding everyone why Modest Mouse still makes the intimate feel enormous.