Excuse Me As I Gush

If you're uncomfortable in the presence of too much gushing, you might want to stop reading right now. Otherwise, please excuse me as I go off the deep end raving about Sat. night's Cloud Cult show.

Oh, yeah, they were awesome. Even stripped down to four players they filled the room with sound and energy.

Craig Minowa (lead singer, guitarist and leader) came out with just his acoustic guitar and started off with two new songs, "Chemicals Collide" and "Deaf Girl's Song." Lovely, captivating songs with great lyrics and images. Then the cellist, Sarah Young, came out and joined him for a beautiful rendition of "Transistor Radio," which is one of my favorite songs.

The drummer, Dan Greenwood, and bassist, Matthew Freed, joined them and they launched into "Intro" and "Living on the Outside of Your Skin," and the house went wild. I was in heaven. As you know, I was pretty freaking excited, but there was this woman at the table next to us who was actually MORE excited to be there than I was. She was laughing and clapping and rocking out in her seat--made me seem tame by comparison. Fun to watch.

From there they did "Breakfast with My Shadow", "Washed Your Car," "Bobby's Spacesuit," "What Comes at the End," and "Car Crash," with Craig doing vocals on Car Crash. Then they did another "new ditty" that had a rousing drum intro, quite lengthy, called "Chain Reaction." Next was "As Long As You're Happy" and "My Son Is Watching," which, oh my god, made me cry. It was especially heartfelt and really intense. They wrapped it up with "Happy Hippo." We all stood and screamed and begged for more, but apparently they were under strict orders to finish up by a certain time, coz the next band was due onstage at 9, so no encore.

That would be my only real complaint, that the show was too short by far, but hey, it was free, and what we got to hear was exceptional, so I really can't complain.

So then to my utter delight, the whole band came out and talked with the audience and hung out at the merchandise table and I got to meet them all--I told Craig I am their biggest fan (although I did mention that there is a guy in Brooklyn who is, perhaps, as big a fan as I am--you know who you are!). He was SO extremely friendly and nice and spent a lot of time with us. And boy, was he sweaty!

I asked him the names of the new songs and said it was a shame they weren't playing in a larger venue. He said that they do everything themselves and on a shoestring budget, but that things are building for them more and more. He said they've been approached by record labels, but so far none would agree to use all the recycled materials, soy inks and such that they are commited to using, so they won't consider signing to one until they find one that will. That's dedication, folks. Coz they SURELY deserve to be heard by a wider audience.

It was a terrific show, but it was a strange performance space in a couple of ways. First, it's a restaurant, and the food service went on during the show. Craig commented that they'd never played for people while they ate before. And then there was the daylight factor. It's street level with floor-to-ceiling windows, and since the show started at 7 p.m., it was still plenty light outside. Not your typical cave-like club atmosphere. It finally got dark enough that they turned the spotlights on, which made it seem more like a stage. But I had great seats, and that's all that mattered to me.

It struck me what real, normal people they all were. The cellist has a one-year-old, and her partner cared for him during the show, walking him around in his stroller and whatnot. So down to earth. And the drummer, he is SO not what I pictured him to be. The intricate, funked-up, almost-dance-club beats that he puts out are so wild and varied, and there he was, a regular looking dude with a plaid shirt on and glasses and beard. Very subdued looking, until he started to play, that is. The bassist was very cute, and he really got into it, moving back and forth across what little space he had, bouncing and bobbing. I loved watching the cellist play, as she closed her eyes and seemed to really be in "the flow." And Craig was very sincere, very concentrated, almost earnest in his stage manner. You can tell he feels things very deeply, that this is personal for him on a lot of levels. Did I mention he played the whole set in bare feet? Just like the organic farmer boy he is!

tags: craig minowa  cloud cult  

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