Mt. Eerie // Kusikia, Karl Blau, Calvin Johnson – Urban Xchange 2.08.09

Mt. Eerie played a set of unreleased songs, so I can't share any of them with you guys, but enjoy this neat video someone made for his song "No Flashlight"

“Cool things keep happening in Tacoma. What’s with that?”

Between striking sexy dad poses, Calvin Johnson echoed this popular sentiment on the occasion of Urban Xchange’s “The Den” opening show. The Den is a new show space located in the back of downtown Tacoma’s finest clothing exchange store. My best knowledge dictates this response: there is a loose collection of Pugett Sound students—musicians and organizers and friends—who care about original music and making it a community thing. Organizers Abby and Allegra, who opened the place up, also recently put on the Tacoma 2nd annual Alder Arts Walk, an event where various musicians from Tacoma, Portland, and beyond played at several houses within a stretch of 8 or so blocks near UPS. This organization continually impresses me and sort of makes me yearn to experience the community of a smaller city. What do you guys think about organizing around art in a bigger city like Portland? Tacoma has always made me feel much more welcome at shows than Portland house shows, but maybe it's just the people I happen to be involved with.

To get back to the show....clearly, it is my ultimate fate to always arrive in the middle of Kuskia’s set whenever they play in Washington. Thankfully they actually played “heart” at the end, which they never play live. This cemented my love for them.

Karl Blau’s stripped down guitar/singing set was lovely and bouncy. During one song, everyone hummed a disco-y bass line as he syncopated a final verse over it.

I’ve been listening to Mt. Eerie almost constantly for the last four months, and it was just as holy to see Phil with his guitar as to hear “The Glow Pt. 2” as a "voice in headphones." Most of the set was forthcoming material. It was river-hill-destruction-city-lights themed, I would say, and I (regretfully) told Phil at the merch booth I wanted to buy it rather than complimenting it in a better way. It was very beautiful, I meant, and I'm absolutely dying to listen more. Like regular Mt. Eerie, the sound was scratching guitar arching its sound into the warmth of sad melody. Images of familiarity with being alone and feeling the breath of the world connected a less familiar attitude of respect and acceptance I am interested in learning about and knowing from this humbled dude. It was nice that half the crowd was sitting, but my one complaint comes in that most who were standing could see hardly anything in the narrow space. The merch area was perhaps a little more massive than it should be, but maybe for future shows it won't be so bad.

I will refrain from further defiling this experience by trying to describe it. Listen to the Microphones and Mt. Eerie.

_Katia