On Saturday night we connected with our friend Liz. She was going to see a band called Mt. Eerie at this tiny gallery, Cairo. They were hosting a three night "Expo" of Seattle & area bands and also had a community installation going on. The installation was a 8'x 10' map of Seattle's incestuous music community past and present. Attendees were welcomed to add connections and bands to the map. We stood and examined it for a while and I was pretty determined to add something to it. I finally came up with "Dillenger Escape Plan" to link to Mike Patton whom was linked to Faith No More and I forget the connections after that...
I don't really know anything about music, I'm just a really good listener. Everything I know about music and musicians I learned from friends, I've never sought that information myself. Occasionally though, a good one gets through and I end up seeing a band I really like for only $3! (Jay is really good at politely talking people into giving us things for cheap.) Well, the full band wasn't there, it was just the singer/songwriter, Phil. But it was great. His music was so emotive and conjured intense nature imagery in the lyrics and textures of sound. Songs that could have easily been cheesey (well, that's going too far...) if played on an acoustic guitar were made atmospheric and stormy with the use of amplifiers and feedback. You could almost feel the whale in the room, the harpoon in your heart.
Adding to an already lovely night, Liz gave us the key to her place along with directions. We got on the I-5 and managed not to die getting there, it was raining so hard.
This morning we woke up to a view of Puget Sound and the warmth of the gas fireplace. Jay made breakfast and finally mastered making coffee in our second-hand percolator. We walked down to the seaside, past a marina and admired all the boats, big and small. I like the tradition of naming a vessel, I think it's important to the journey. That's why I painted Elwood's name on his hood; invoking a tenacious persona.
Tomorrow we plan on heading to Olympia for a day and after that some camping at the foot of Mt. Saint Helens. Then on to Portland, hoping for good weather on Friday the 27th so we can ride in their Critical Mass.
-Janet, written on November 22nd
sounds divine!!
ReplyDelete