Jeff Mangum at the Ogden Theatre, 4/26/12

That voice took a toll on its audience, whose members swayed lazily and sweatily with palms over hearts and cell phones happily relegated to pockets. (Crowd-wide goosebumps broke out during the world's eeriest sing-along, hundreds of voices breathlessly in sync with Mangum's wail on "Two-Headed Boy.")

And it took a different toll on its owner; by song ten, he had removed the throat spray from his khakis. By its followup, he was making sense of the night's end. At almost an hour on the dot, the set was everything it had to be and exactly nothing more, the kind of show where you wish you had someone to call in the middle if you could somehow just bring yourself to interrupt the spell and hold out your phone. But that action might have earned a frown from its inspiration.

"I've said this before, but there's this feeling that these records have been out there touching people," Mangum told his quiet crowd. "I didn't really know what to expect when I did this again. It feels like I'm reaching my people." And as he launched into closer "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea," the floor shook slightly as those people clapped in unison.

Page through for a Critic's Notebook, setlist, more photos and additional Denver stories from Mangum.

Personal Bias: To date, I have never been able to get through In the Aeroplane Over the Sea with my eyes completely dry -- not even in mixed company.

By the Way: Backbeat officially nominates Jeff Mangum for the Colorado Music Hall of Fame. For proof of his ties to the state, pay close attention to the following extra anecdotes. "[In Denver], I lived in my friend's walk-in boiler room apartment, where he was like, 'If my landlord comes in, you've got to pick up your mattress. We have to make it look as much like a closet as possible.'" And: "I used to walk down Colfax every day. That was around the time of day I used to feel freaked out and talk to myself. I used to go to the bookstore and find the first book and try to get a message from it. I'd look up to see a girl standing there all freaked out, and I'd be like, 'I'm sorry, just trying to get a message.'"

Random Detail: During "King of Carrot Flowers Pt. 2 and 3," the dude behind me remarked, "It's the one song I never listen to." This is a mistake. It should just be the one you never listen to on a date.

Jeff Mangum
Ogden Theatre - 4/26/12
Denver, CO

01. "Two-Headed Boy Pt. 2"
02. "Holland, 1945"
03. "Gardenhead/Leave Me Alone"
04. "True Love Will Find You in the End" (Daniel Johnston cover)
05. "King of Carrot Flowers P. 1"
06. "King of Carrot Flowers Pt. 2 and 3"
07. "Song Against Sex"
08. "Oh Comely"
09. "Ghost"
10. "Naomi"
11. "April 8th"
12. "Two-Headed Boy"
13. "The Fool"

ENCORE

14. "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea"

Location Info

Venue

Map

Ogden Theatre

935 E. Colfax Ave., Denver, CO

Category: Music

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