Universal Light Show
Last night I had the privilege of seeing Universal Light alongside Amelia Empson and The Mummer at the Newport Community Center. A fantastic show in a very interesting venue. I would highly recommend checking out all of theses artists if you ever get a chance.
Amelia Empson
The show started with a nice solo set from Amelia. I've seen here once or twice before and am never disappointed. Her voice always brings a kind of optimistic melancholy quality. Highlights include a song snippet that she "wrote while riding her bike along the river" as part of a move to a new place. The lyrics reflected this.
Universal Light
The set began with the guitarist drawing a set of cards and laying them out on the floor. Each card had a different symbol and was either white on black or black on white. This was the setlist for the night. The main instrumentation was a beautiful 12-string guitar (which I later found out has quite the musical lineage!), a cello and a fiddle.
The instruments drone into one another, often trading musical figures. Sometimes reminiscent of In C by Terry Riley, though in a much different form, and with perhaps a more complex overall tonality. At times the guitar is leading, at other times it assumed a similar role to a Tanpura in Indian classical music. The room was acoustically open, and the music swelled all around us.
After a short break to change tuning, the instrumentation changed to include a Harmonium and a fiddle with extra sympathetic strings (I believe a Hardanger fiddle). The final two songs included lyrics, and I am reminded of Xiu Xiu, though I am not sure that's really a fair comparison.
The set lasted a little over an hour and was an incredible sonic journey from start to finish.
The Mummer
After Universal Light we all moved outside a room to experience The Mummer a sort of noise piece. There was a sense of community as we listened and looked up at the stars in the SWVA countryside.
Final Thoughts
This is a special venue, and this was a special night. The music covered several quite distinct genres, leaving me satiated. I would highly recommend listening to all these artists.
As expected, I bought (and got signed) the Universal Light LP :)