Folks seemed to take a step forward in tandem with each downbeat during the hallowed opening measures of “Goat Shepherd“, the lead track off Mirah‘s recent revelatory release, Changing Light. It’s a stirring song of defiance and escape, and of rage. The smile through which Mirah sang “Shepherd” and then “Oxen Hope” beguiled the tracks’ dark implications.

In 2014, she is a generous veteran performer touring behind a self-described breakup album and plucking select tunes from her decade plus body of work. In St. Louis, the floor was littered with Mirah enthusiasts, in modest numbers still strong enough that the initial measures of each song were met with hollers, knowing sighs, or a quick round of vigorous applause.

“No Direction Home” was doubly venomous live thanks to one-woman string section Alex Guy, whose work in/as Led to Sea also deserves attention. The show didn’t recall Mirah in the early 2000s, all exuberance and methodical madness. Instead, we bore witness to elegant percussion from Corey Fogel, who holds not only a pair of drumsticks but also an MFA. We tapped along to Maia Macdonald’s robust bass work, who plays for herself as Kid in the Attic. It was a Monday concert on a dreary little fall night that defied expectation, provided clarity and entertainment, and revealed a musical journey that has wrought a confident, clever frontwoman who put together a hell of a backing band.

The end of the evening brought two gifts: a fuzzy, clamorous rendition of “The Garden” and a sing-a-long version of “Monument”, both from Mirah’s 2002 jewel, Advisory Committee. ‘Try where you are, do what you can / you belong to what you understand / So teach yourself how to demand the monument that you deserve / for rising up in a beaten down world,’ the crowd half-whispered and half-sang. Someone was crying. The shit got real.

For the less-than-five of you reading this who live outside the St. Louis area, you might have heard that right now our city is at once a shining testament to the goodness and empathy of tireless individuals working together toward social justice, and a veritable dumpster with free Wifi from which a herd of loud trashpeople is emerging.

But last Monday, a lucky few St. Louisans had Mirah and her “Monument”, and it felt good to hear a gentle protest song in the dark.

Photos by Jess Luther. (Full photo set here.)

 

Death Vessel opened the show. The Sub Pop Records artist played songs from his well-received February 2014 release, Island Intervals, to a sparse, appreciative crowd. ‘I don’t want to know anything in the least,’ Joel Thibodeau warbled during “Velvet Antlers”,’…every animal is a certain kind of beast.’ Again, it’s with bated breath that many St. Louisans are absorbing art, conversation, and just existing in this city during an important moment in history. The patient, lilting sincerity that Thibodeau offered the room during his performance was as gentle as it was necessary.

Full Death Vessel photo set here.