Recording: Mirapolis

Artist: Mirapolis

Song: The Striga^*

Recorded at The Cavern Bar, August 23, 2015.

Mirapolis - The Striga

I'd heard from friends who had been that The Cavern Bar had an unusual vibe for a gig, and this first visit confirmed that. Off the usual music venue grid on Church Street, the basement room is as much a watering hole for patrons of the hostel above as a destination for music seekers, leading to some random interactions and moments of bands playing to as many blissfully indifferent patrons as folks there for the show. As with openers Bears & Children, I was familiar with one-third of this young unit, having seen drummer Noah Sherman in action previously. Joined by Luan Phung (guit) and Chris Rennie (tenor sax) the group was pushing in a few different directions, sounding, at a couple points, like Tortoise attempting to tackle "A Love Supreme". That questing quality (which also lead to an intriguing cover of Olivier Messiaen's "Louange à l'éternité de Jésus") was the band's best asset, compensating for a few moments of lingering jazz-school precision fustiness.

^* Thanks to Noah for passing along the title to this one!