Lykanthea

   I was supposed to go to this Kate Bushed themed night but Lykanthea kinda took over, and that Kate Bush thing I could not make it to. Kate Bush kinda makes every artist I have seen possible. I can't believe she came out of an England run by Thatcher....... Oh, wait.....that was the same fucking night. So I did make it. Ideally, I would have caught Natalie Grace Alford as well. That would have felt like I caught two shows. And Natalie Grace is bold with a full, deep powerful voice. She is so different from Lykanthea, loud, booming....as different as a Kate Bush night would allow. I really like her music and I've been missing her a lot. Still, it was not to be and that hurt.  I saw a line outside. I almost decided not to even find a parking spot. I don't know what time I arrived but it did not feel like I was late. Everyone in line was early. Fuck it, I'm there, park....get in line and see what happens. I saw Natalie walk from Whistler and go around the corner. I did not say hi yet. There was a purpose to her stride, and I did not want to interrupt.  Eventually I do make it inside and to the back patio. I did talk briefly to Natalie, her set was already done. Damn! Its still nice to talk with them casually, they know you went to see them. I saw Scott Cortez there with Lakshmi. I saw Scott, Lakshmi and Natalie in close proximity and naturally assumed they knew each other. Dedicate a night to Kate Bush and a lot of different friends of mine will flock to it.

  Yeah....let me jump in the middle of this thing. Lykanthea sets up in that singular way that she does. All the instruments she uses arranged on the floor, keyboard, guitar, mac.... where she will sit as she sings.  And it just kinda draws you in like Michael Caine when he switches to that tender breaking voice of his......like in Batman.  A lot of training and learning goes into how Lakshmi uses her voice, her music.

  If you are not into ambient music....at all....hmmm, sit and wait over there for my post on Chelsea Wolfe.....or just look up Chelsea Wolfe. Anyway, I don't like that much ambient. And I cannot explain why I like those that I do. This is not for everyone, and yet I am a believer. Its a longer, quieter journey that a short attention span will not bother. Your sense of wonder has to be fine with a long ride without asking "are we there yet?". I find Ms Lakshmi Ramgopal fascinating to me because she challenges the nature of what performance is. She sings as if no one is there. Her eyes don't even glance at anyone if her eyes are ever seen at all. Even as I grow familiar with her recorded work, her live shows still have this fluidity. They can change a track yet you can still recognize it.

   In addition to being a musician, she is also a scholar, studying for her PhD. Its in researching for her dissertation that found her traveling to places like the nearly uninhabited Greek island of Delos. She studied the mythology of the Sumerian goddess Inanna as the original inspiration to the EP.  Inanna is described as a terrifying force of creation/destruction. Went to the underworld on holiday, was held there but eventually escaped. Lakshmi was drawn to these Sumerian myths of birth and death, and claiming yourself despite yourself. Inanna had to confront her weaknesses and darkside before leaving the underworld. Lakshmi in studying Inanna was interested in the people behind the ideas and stories. She is a historian at heart. And I think that makes her this amazing musician as well. The reason why I bring her PhD work up is that I don't believe it is separate from her being a musician. This is a small window to that. The only window available. She just came back from Europe. I know she went to Italy to study....Rome. I think she even performed at a goth festival in Germany. She was there a year, and appeared on my radar just before she left. Telos is the first single of her EP Migration. It also has a video up on YouTube. They drop rose petals on her and everything. Its a nice, sweet video and its a Chicago artist that I know and I find that to be very.....wow. Musicians are the very best ambassadors.

Zig