ACL Fest Sunday Reviews

The Decemberists

Decemberists frontman Colin Meloy has become virtually indistinguishable from Mo Rocca, the wry, Ivy League gadfly who pops up everywhere from VH1's I Love the '90s to the Food Network's Iron Chef America. Maybe Meloy's a bit chubbier, but either way, he and Rocca are perfect examples of one particularly annoying genus: smarter-than-thou hipster dickheads. That's how little worth a live document of a Decemberists concert is, unless you want to sit around with your friends plotting the precise ways in which you're going to administer a beat-down to a puffy guy in a candy-striped jacket. The documentary segment of this self-stroking DVD, "Paris After the War," is a dry account of the Decemberists' origins, with terrifying close-up shots of the Portlanders' sallow complexions. Like those gigantic pores and eye bags, this is maybe a too-detailed narrative of the beginnings of a clever band that makes enjoyable, intelligent music. Does anybody really care that much? The saving grace of this waste of plastic is the collection of music videos, especially "16 Military Wives," a hilarious and Wes Anderson-esque send-up of prep-school politics. (7:30pm, Dell stage)