pearwaldorf | Baby's first indie rock show

So Ms. Adrienne calls me up at work yesterday and asks if I want to go to a show. It's Mirah, and I've been meaning to check her out, and it's five bucks, so why the hell not? We go pick up Katie and Ms. "Lila," Katie's girlfriend (who is very... angular. I can't explain it. But she's uber cute.). Katie is driving around, looking for NE 21st and Liberty, which we all thought was a strange place for a show, especially as we are in a heavy residential zone. We spot a vaguely dykey looking indie girl and a crowd of scenesters on bikes going into the back yard of a house and rejoice that we have found said venue, as we were expecting an actual, y'know, venue.

Into the yard we go (sad dead grass, and a sorta-vegetable patch staked off; big orange phallic squash, tomatoes, and things Adrienne thought were peppers), and the crowd was so fucking indie it made my teeth hurt. This was the type of crowd that buys everything at thrift stores and yard sales and it shows. Quite a few emo gas station jackets, everything so DIY I swear if they knew I bought my (now raggedy and stained) shirt new they'd probably pronounce me a poser and not allow me to hear the show. And everybody was androgynous. I think they were mostly girls, but given how skinny and flat so many of them were I really couldn't tell. Adrienne made a crack about hoping they didn't start being androgynous just because they'd acquired the gender subversion kit on Crimethink, which apparently actually exists, much to my amusement and horror.

Noises start emanating from the house, and I figured they were practicing, but apparently we were supposed to go in and stuff, and so the crowd all trundles into this dank stuffy basement to listen to this not-really-bad-not-really-good Rasputina knockoff. I mean, they were all right I guess, but for god's sakes, they titled one of their songs "Dance Dance Resurrection." This is when I first experience the Nonchalant Indie Head Bob. I think it's the fucking funniest thing in the world, all these too-fucking-cool-to-dance indie people just standingwith their hands in their pockets bobbing their heads to the music. I mean, really. Dance. It's okay. It shows you enjoy the music.

Also, I don't know if it was an ironic gesture on their part, but the basement was plastered with N'Sync postcards. There was a washing machine with a Justin Timberlake postcard on the lid, and a reaaaaaallllly gay gigantic sticker thing of Justin on the front. I was amused, and sat on the machine for Mirah's set. I thought she would appreciate the irony. And I can now say I've sat on Justin Timberlake's face without lying.

Second act was this really shitty Hot-Topic oh-my-gawth type band (who flew in from Australia, apparently. They should have stayed down under.) that played for way too long, so long that Adrienne and I had time to go walk down the street and talk and come back and find Katie and Lila in the living room, talk to them, make acquaintance with the resident cat (who was so placid and adorable! Any other cat would probably have committed seppuku by the middle of the second act. Oh wait. I wanted to commit seppuku by the middle of the second act too. Never mind.), find our residences on the gigantic map o' Portland in the living room, and they still weren't done. Oyyy.

So they finally finish up, and we go down to see Mirah, who is just so fucking cute I want to eat her. There were a lot of problems with the amp, and the guitar (the DRUMS. Those fucking drums. I did not think much of Emily, the other half of the billed act) drowned out her little voice. What I heard of her stuff I really like, and I think I'll have to pick up a CD. I really wish she'd get some fucking voice lessons, though, as non-DIY as that is, because she needs to learn how to project. And ditch the amp. I mean, it's a fucking basement. How far do you need the sound to carry? I was also really unimpressed by the shortness of the set. I mean, four songs. And apparently she and Emily had rehearsed only three times, and it showed. If you play four songs and barely rehearse, what's the point of having a show at all?

In short, it was an educational experience, and I got to hang out with three very cool and lovely girls, so it wasn't a total wash. Hurrah.