The Decemberists, with Special Guest My Brightest Diamond, to Perform March 30

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The Center for the Arts at the University at Buffalo will present The Decemberists at 8 p.m. on March 30 in the Mainstage Theatre in the Center for the Arts on the UB North (Amherst) Campus. Tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. on Feb. 2.

The Decemberists have risen to the first rank of the indie music world with a series of bold, beautiful albums, including 2005's "Picaresque" and "Her Majesty, The Decemberists" (2003). On these albums, frontman Colin Meloy's crafty compositions marry an infallible melodic knack with a venturesome lyrical palette equally suitable for painting fantastical songs full of sea captains, legionnaires, chimney sweeps and seekers of all kinds. Their 2006 release, "The Crane Wife," marked their major label debut and has topped many of the year's "best of" lists. The album is inspired by a Japanese folk tale of the same name.

Led by these songs, and by a group dynamic that embraces experimentation even as it celebrates classic pop and folk forms -- to say nothing of klezmer, Irish jig, sea chantey, and prog rock -- The Decemberists are established firmly as a completely original happening in the world of contemporary indie rock: sold out tours across the nation, widespread popular and critical acclaim and an aesthetic all their own.

Still, as their star rose in the demimonde, Meloy noticed that the band -- himself, multi-instrumentalist Chris Funk, keyboardist Jenny Conlee, bassist Nate Query and drummer John Moen -- had its eyes trained on broader horizons. "It wasn't like we needed to force the change," he explains, "but the change was happening. I could tell when I was sitting down with the guitar… what was coming out wasn't the same old stuff."

The stuff that was coming out would become the band's most ambitious record to date. Drawing on the long-simmering inspiration of the Crane Wife story, Meloy has written a collection of songs that leap off from the folk tale and into a rich, complex musical landscape. It's tempting to think of "The Crane Wife" as a concept album, but that's not really accurate. The album is more like an extrapolation of the folk tale, a re-imagining of its themes on a broader canvas. For every song that touches directly on Meloy's interpretation of the Japanese legend (gorgeous album opener "The Crane Wife 3," or its prequel, "The Crane Wife 1 and 2"), several more take their cue from the fabric of the story, only to stretch outward into other visions.

No matter how dark the words may get, the album's spirit is buoyed by boundless energy and an expansive musical vocabulary. Styles and influences abound -- shades of Pink Floyd, Yes and Fairport Convention trade off with more anthemic touchstones like middle-period R.E.M., The Waterboys and even early U2 -- but the sound of The Decemberists is unique in contemporary pop music.

This blend of dark and light was informed by the recording process, during which the band was able, for the first time in its career, to take time building their arrangements in a well-equipped studio setting in Portland. Granted the luxury of preparation, the band and co-producers Chris Walla (guitarist/producer for "Death Cab for Cutie") and Tucker Martine ("Laura Veirs") cultivated an atmosphere of total creative freedom for the two-and-a-half months the group spent making "The Crane Wife." "The Crane Wife" may be many things -- a deconstructed folk tale, an intimate epic, a great new record by an essential American band -- but it could never be called typical.

Tickets for The Decemberists are $25, students $20. Tickets are available from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday in the Center for the Arts Box Office and all Ticketmaster locations, including Kaufmann's. To charge tickets, call 852-5000; in Canada, call 1-416-870-8000. For group sales, call 645-6771. For more information, call 645-ARTS. The Center for the Arts is a Ticketfast location. Students (of any school) must present valid student ID at the Center Box Office to receive discount.