It was a desolate wasteland.
There were very few signs of life in the back of the dark and eerie space. Tumbleweeds blew through as a patron walked through the Bishop's plywood door. Another followed. Then came a sound, a call from a higher power perhaps. More people filed in at the call of a sound-checked guitar.
"Hello. We're Charlie Patton's War."
No more than 15 people were there for the beginning of the set. It was an odd feeling listening to such great music with so few people. I know Little 5 weekend is tough to compete with, but come on, 15 people?
As Charlie Patton's War worked through about an hour long and incredibly fun set, a few more people managed to show up and dance along to a few tunes.
Unfortunately, the next act - Brooklyn's Sundelles - slowed down the hyped pace that CPW worked so hard to build up considerably. More than a few people went to the bar to get another drink or stood outside to grab a smoke. That's not necessarily Sundelles' fault, they just didn't quite fit the bill or the pace of the evening.
After a brief intermission that allowed a few more eager patrons to stumble their way back in it was time for the main event - Hanni El Khatib.
LA-based El Khatib's garage-soul energy was just what the Bishop needed to get the crowd moving again. The front of the room began to fill up as El Khatib played songs such as "Build.Destroy.Rebuild" and "Dead Wrong" from his album Will The Guns Come Out.
Elbows were flying and feet were stomping the ground while El Khatib used every inch of the Bishop's stage, winding in and out of the cord from his guitar. El Khatib pumped up the volume by bringing along a drummer and an extra guitarist while on tour. The result was pretty fucking awesome.
A wall of distorted sound hit you from the front while the dude dancing a little too hard hit you from the back. No one gave a damn, though, when an inadvertent elbow flew in - it's a show. Throw one of your own and get on with it.
At the end of an extremely energetic show that far too few people actually witnessed, El Khatib closed with one of his more popular tracks, "Fuck It, You Win."
Nearly all of the first two rows were singing the lyrics right along with El Khatib - not like you could actually hear them. They were playing loud. I mean, really loud.
"OH FUCK IT, YOU WIN!"
Everyone in the room jumped up and down. A couple people jumped side-to-side, presumably because their brains had already been melted and they didn't know any better.
Then just like that it was over.
"Thanks for coming out guys. That's it, we're done."
Hanni El Khatib grabbed his beer, walked off the stage and the lights came up.
Post and photography by Jonathan Streetman
