Vail at Cole's

  For the second time I see Vail at Cole's, and fucking wow! Everything that she plays is impacting, and also so mysterious. I got there well before she started. Shows at Cole's usually start kinda late. So my drive to there was less pressured. The Vail bandcamp page was not linked to Cole's, so I had to dig, but I found it. I don't know which of these songs she played, but I am getting well into what is on Bandcamp. I don't know when I would see her perform again. And so that factors in when watching it, soaking as many answers as you can find. Mostly I was finding more questions, at the time. Vail is the secret solo project of Emily Kempf. Both times seeing Vail, I was sure I've seen her play before. Its not uncommon for one to play in more than one band. I just could not name it. Fuck it...more digging. It's Heavy Dreams! And I saw them at Empty Bottle......with Fielded! Cool...that was just bothering me. I had to figure it out.
  Visually you get a real theatrical performance with Vail. I'm talking costumes, props,....plastic sheets, all that. The visual is there before you hear anything and then what you hear is no bullshit. Its powerful, its great, and you want to see it again. Its one of those bands that not only are you happy to have seen it small and local, its twice as awesome when you know they are also local. There is a depth to her voice, Ms Emily's like its slightly older than her. This is on top of the creativity on display visually and then the actual music.  The songs she played did not telegraph each other, so that each track is its own mystery. Vail is ethereal, dance. There was not one moment when I was not compelled to dance. So she knows how to keep one's attention. Think about it. Who ever has you dancing has your attention, you give that to her. And then she turns elusive, mysterious. There are many people that I can say this, and it holds true to Vail. There is no genre or subculture that Vail does not visit. I feel that she has a familiarity with many and it shows in the music in her bandcamp and live. I wanted to see again after the first time when Vail played Cole's. That gig was something else, a very diverse bunch of performers, Mykele Deville, Natalie Grace, a rip in time/space diverse.   
  It is note worthy for me who I saw at these gigs. I saw Scott Cortez from Astrobrite. He is a very active and well known local musician in the shoegaze scene. Star, a band that I am still fond of and was active around 2007, 2008, was his. So there is music in my collection that I can connect to him.....hmm, perhaps I should have saved that bit about Scott until at least the next Fauvely show.  But I cannot disconnect seeing him from seeing Vail, and he was there at both shows. And here is something else unexpected that I cannot separate from the second time seeing Vail. A cousin of mine that I would often see at family gatherings I saw at Cole's. This is a scenario that I would often play in my head. Because me at these concerts is me breathing, and I don't often get to share these moments with many in my family. It takes an extraordinary effort to get them to go to these weird shows. And I got accustomed to it just being me even as I wish it was not. So it was great to see this cousin seeing this specific band. I was told that he moved to Logan Square. He is into Twin Peaks....the David Lynch show. If he can like that kind of weirdness then Vail is an easy sell. He lived a few blocks from Cole's and so we walked and talked casually with his friends. One actually talked to Ms Emily before leaving with us. I had to soak up every second of this and be aware of my good fortune all present like a rare star in the sky. A friend who is an extraordinary, and respected local musician, family present in an environment where I feel well at ease, and a kick ass mysterious local band. Wow!
Zig