Oh, what a night. As Stefania mentioned previously, headliners Parenthetical Girls were sadly detained with van troubles and couldn't make it out to Bloomington for their show on Monday night. I cannot lie---I was kind of bummed out. I had been listening to their new CD Entanglements all week and was beyond ready to experience their beautifully quirky orchestral sound live in person, but alas, it was not meant to be.
However, I couldn't stay sour for long. Why you ask? Well, because the rest of the show, another Spirit of '68 production, was a short and crazy experience in and of itself. I wanted "quirky" and, by goodness, I found it.
Stefania and I arrived at the Cinemat around 9:30 and found that we had missed Smedley Jergins, the first act that played that night. Looking at his Myspace page, it seems like it could have been an interesting set to watch. Citing influences all over the board (Of Montreal? 2LiveCrew? DC TALK??), I can only imagine it was...well, awesome.
We did, however, show up to catch the tail-end of Grampall Jookabox, a one-man band from Indy (on the Asthmatic Kitty roster, no less) that took solo performance to a whole new level. Jumping between his small drum setup consisting only of a bass and floor tom, his bass guitar and an amp with some pedals, he wove each song together with live recorded loops of either bass or drums (sometimes both!), all the while yelping his big heart out (mewithoutYou, anyone?) to the raw, chunky sound.
When he wasn't stuck behind his drum set, he traipsed around the room with a red bandanna around his neck and head and wrist lights flashing brightly in the dimly lit room. (I wish I had pictures of this, but mine didn't turn out very well :[ ). The crowd, mostly sprawled out on the floor of the Cinemat, sat entranced by his performance until it ended and the lights came up.
Not long after, Stefania and I settled on the floor and waited for the final performance from PWRFL Power. I already liked his stage moniker, so I couldn't wait to hear him perform, and Stefania was won over by the interesting merch he was selling at his table---hand-knitted "good luck" sponges made by his grandmother in Japan. Cute!
Now, if I thought the first act was interesting, PWRFL Power sure knew how to surprise me. Singer/songwriter Kal stood alone onstage, his yellow cardigan and Converse matching his beautiful, golden Gretsch guitar (I was seriously salivating over it). Speaking almost timidly into his microphone during soundcheck, he declared, "I don't really play this loud," when his amp blasted into the hollow room.
Opening with a syrupy sweeps of sweet guitar, Kal began to sing lilting and intimate songs that captivated not only Stefania and I, but the entire room. With lyrics that were quirky, straightforward, and utterly hilarious, the crowd listened intently and laughed along, especially during one of his final numbers, "Chopstix Song," in which he declared to an unnamed love, "You're so pretty / but holding them wrong."
The final song of his set was an intense, almost bluesy number that ended with a frenetic, "Flight of the Bumblebee"-type solo that he got so wrapped up in, it made him trip and fall over. With a cute smile and a quick bow, he exited the stage, leaving all of us with even bigger smiles than we had when we arrived.
Short and sweet, the show was a nice respite from my otherwise busy Monday, and yet another successful trip to the Cinemat.
-Photos and Story by Kelsey McArdle
