Laura Gibson sang to friendly faces at home in Portland Friday night. Cozy, be-balconied Mississippi Studios played a lovely host - I spied from on high as Mike Midlo, Breathe Owl Breathe, and Gibson played in the spotlight (for the second time that night). A real treat of an evening: little known opener turn out to be gems, songs I hope will be played sound even better live.
Growing up in Northeast Portland, we had neighborhood pancake breakfasts in The Madeline School parking lot each summer. The grocer from Alameda Foods was the griddle master. We’d sit and eat at picnic tables pushed together in long rows. Breakfast outside! Pancake Breakfast the band is from Portland, OR and they bill themselves as Americana, Rock, Roots. Mike Midlo and two other members of Pancake Breakfast kick off the evening’s festivities. Their music is foot-stomping and honest, gentle but then in a minute barreling...and happy! I love watching fun being had making music. If the curtain fell and the lights came up when they ended, I would have left content.
Breathe Owl Breathe hails from Michigan. I first heard about them from a fellow melophobe, who quite luckily caught their cape-clad performance way out at The Woods Stage, Pickatlon 2009. Traveling light on this tour, many of the instruments they hauled on stage were borrowed...cello, banjo, candy apple red guitar. A tiny plastic pineapple marraka also made an appearance. Quirky and funny in their banter (I can’t remember a show where I giggled so much), Breathe Owl Breath’s sound is stitched together with echos, breaths, scratches, and yelps which grow in the spaces between words and impart an organic depth.
Laura Gibson is a class act. Her sound is expansive and personal, breathy and rich, strong. This night, she was ringed by a clutter of musician friends - flute, clarinet, base, percussion - and more adoring fans flanking the stage. La Grande was the present of the night, unwrapped song by song. Those songs best received were full with sound, while softer, more acoustic pieces let some chatter filter through and rocked others in the audience to sleep. The next morning I ran in the woods and around a lake near my home. I listened to La Grande two times through as my body woke up, the movement in the songs moving me forward, the sadness in some turning my mind inward and away from the grade of the hill, the force of wind.
DOWNLOAD: Laura Gibson - La Grande (MP3) or Follow us for more Laura Gibson MP3s (Twitter)
Two songs go in, one comes out. Pick a side.
thanks so much nadine! probably the best compliment a photog can get!
and thanks for reminding me to embed the video in the post too!
by Steve Benoit on Sun May 20, 2012 at 09.33 am from the entry: Father John Misty + Har Mar Superstar - Brighton Music Hall (Boston, MA; May 16, 2012)
I can’t get over how these photos captured my up close memory of the night.
by nadine on Sat May 19, 2012 at 11.08 pm from the entry: Father John Misty + Har Mar Superstar - Brighton Music Hall (Boston, MA; May 16, 2012)
Or should it be whoever? F my grammar.
by nadine on Sat May 19, 2012 at 10.30 pm from the entry: Father John Misty + Har Mar Superstar - Brighton Music Hall (Boston, MA; May 16, 2012)
Whomever took these photos certainly captured the night!
by nadine on Sat May 19, 2012 at 10.26 pm from the entry: Father John Misty + Har Mar Superstar - Brighton Music Hall (Boston, MA; May 16, 2012)
“Mindkilla” is awesome. I’ve got this music video last week and really impressed through watching every performance particularly “Glass Jar”. Thanks dude. :)
dance contest
by Mark Waugh on Thu May 17, 2012 at 05.54 am from the entry: Gang Gang Dance's Illuminating "Mindkilla"
Also, I have yet to pay this venue a visit, is it good spot? good people, good vibe, good atmosphere?
... man, i hope i win some tickets…
by Jaz Bonnin-Aldatz on Thu May 17, 2012 at 12.27 am from the entry: It's all good, see Fishbone for free at Fête
Looking forward to the show. Would love to win some tix for my pals.
by MC Breath on Wed May 16, 2012 at 07.40 pm from the entry: It's all good, see Fishbone for free at Fête
yah beans!
BOB is from Michigan!
@M: oops...fixed!
the family that shoots/writes together…
well done!