Mirah/The Blow/The Creoles @ Chum's Coffeehouse at Brandeis University

Once again, the fine folks at the Brandeis University Punk Rock and Roll Club put on a fantastic show within the tiny confines of the 200ish person Chum's Coffeehouse. After waiting outside for a good 45 minutes (apparently the bands were late or something), everyone piled into Chum's and The Creoles took the stage. For some reason they really reminded me of Pavement, but not in a good way. During one of their songs, which had lyrics detailing a trip to New York City, a friend from there who was standing next to me remarked, "I can tell by their lyrics that they have never actually been there." Ouch. Most of the audience seemed pretty antsy at that point and weren't really paying too much attention, regardless. The group played through about 5 songs and quickly deconstructed their equipment, so the one woman show of The Blow could go on.

Khaela Maricich, also known as The Blow, took the stage and immediately captured everyone's attention, by simply coyly singing once she got on stage. Between stories that detailed the different categories of songs she has written over the years and quirky tales of relationships, she had the whole room dancing, laughing, and fixated on her for the whole set. Most of her songs are a mix of simple synth beats, with one or two keyboard parts layered over in the background, and Khaela's shy vocals thrown in, which allowed her to bounce around the stage and have some fun with the audience while the pre-recorded beats played over the speakers. I recognized "Pile of Gold", "True Affection", and of course, the catchy single "Parenthesis", which had the entire audience cheering when they heard the drums in the beginning being to play. Towards the end of her set, she made true on her promise to crowd surf, delighting the audience who were just hoping she wouldn't slam her head into the incredibly low ceiling. The dance party continued for one more song after that, and then The Blow gracefully left the stage.

I honestly had not heard much of Mirah's material and only really knew of her from my friend's praises and her work with Phil Elvrum of the Microphones/Mt. Eerie fame, but her live performance certainly has me wanting to check out more of her stuff. Simplicity was the nature of her set, with just her with a guitar (along with the occasional distortion effect) and her drummer who at times was banging on his set with his bare hands. Even though she didn't move around too much, the audience was captivated, even during the times when she whispering into the microphone and the entire room was so quiet, all you could hear was the low hum of the ringing in your ears. Although I am not too familiar with her catalog, I did recognize "Jerusalem" and "The Dogs of B.A.", in which she had someone in the back of the room speak the Spanish (I believe) part of the song. Despite the dorm rooms above the coffeehouse and the show apparently running past it's curfew, Mirah came back out for one final song and asked the audience to clap along, hoping that the students above them were still awake. Once the song was over, she put down her guitar and crawled out of the open window behind the stage, much to the confusion of her drummer, who wasn't really sure if she was coming back. After a minute, he too left through the window and the audience soon followed, but out the front door, once the show was over.

The Blow and Mirah are playing two shows in NYC coming up:
3/3 - Fordham University - 441 E Fordham Rd, Bronx, NY (students only i think, not entirely sure)
3/7 - NYU Shorin Auditorium - 60 Washington Square South - 8th - NYC (free! NYU students can get tickets now, non-NYU students get tickets the day of)

More photos up at the Flickr site right here:

The Creoles:



The Blow:







Mirah: