Search - The Decemberists :: We All Raise Our Voices to the Air (Live Songs 04.11-08.11)

The Decemberists have announced the March 13 release of We All Raise Our Voices To The Air (Live Songs 04.11-08.11), a 20-track live double-album (and triple-vinyl set) culled from the band's 2011 tour supporting their chart-topping, Grammy-nominated album The King Is Dead. With songs spanning their entire first decade as a band--from their debut EP 5 Songs through each of their six LP's--We All Raise Our Voices To The Air is the first-ever live album from a band that has grown into one of rock's most thrilling live acts. Before the January 2011 release of The King Is Dead, TIME magazine made the prescient prediction that the album's release would "mark their crossover to the realm of important American rock groups alongside the likes of Wilco and the White Stripes." They were proven right when the album debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top 200. Fueled by the #1 AAA radio hit "Down By The Water"--which is nominated for Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance at the 54th Grammy Awards--the album has produced three Top 10 AAA singles ("This Is Why We Fight" and "Calamity Song") and become the band's best-selling album of their career, earning them a legion of new fans. In concert, The Decemberists--lead singer, songwriter and guitarist Colin Meloy, keyboardist & accordionist Jenny Conlee, guitarist Chris Funk, bassist Nate Query, and drummer John Moen, with additional member Sara Watkins on fiddle, guitar and vocals--deliver an unforgettable live experience full of spontaneity. A band of breathtaking versatility, The Decemberists can reach deep into their rich catalog of songs for gorgeous fok-rock gems ("Rise To Me"), murderously driving rockers ("The Rake's Song"), expansive suites ("The Crane Wife 1, 2, and 3"), the worst song Meloy ever wrote ("Dracula's Daughter"), or epic sea shanties that inspire enthusiastic crowd participation ("The Mariner's Revenge Song"). The performances on We All Raise Our Voices To The Air are drawn from 12 different shows at venues including the legendary Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Stubb's BBQ in Austin, Marymoor Amphitheatre in Seattle, and their final two shows at McMenamins Edgefield Amphitheatre in their hometown of Portland, which featured the addition of a horn section that can be heard on several songs. In a review of the band's first of three sold-out shows that kicked off the 2011 tour at New York City's Beacon Theatre, the New York Post wrote that "during this two-hour show, the set spanned the band's 10-year career, but wisely leaned heaviest on the just-released CD, The King Is Dead. Songs from that record made the best case for why the group should be superstars."