Phil Elverum, aka Mt. Eerie, aka “The Microphones” played Wow Hall. This was an important show for me because I used to play Microphones’ songs on KSUA back in the 90s and that’s how I discovered The Blow. Once Phil was playing in Anchorage and my friends and I tried to catch a ride down to see him play (must have been 2001 or 2002). We couldn’t fit in the car and we didn’t get to see him so 16 years later I see him play at the Wow hall.
This show was intense and really powerfully emotional. Phil played songs from his most recent album A crow looked at me” and they were all about the loss of his beloved wife. Each song seemed to have the same tempo and mood. Many lines in the songs echoed each other and seemed as if they could have been swapped with lines in different songs. Each had touching lines and sorrowful imagery. These are songs about surviving loss, seeing people who knew the deceased at the grocery store, trying to explain what happened to children, and being moved to tears by throwing away a toothbrush or some other intimate object. The whole crowd was silent. We were all on the edge of our seats.
Isaac and the Awkward Situations 