By: Bob Longmore
Whether due to the fact that Mi and L’au played at the Turf Club the night before, the snow that was falling outside, or the late start time on a Thursday, only a handful of people gathered for a night of quiet and engaging music at the Triple Rock Social Club.
Seemingly from nowhere, a tall skinny couple appeared and sat down in chairs that were carefully placed in front of the two monitors on the stage. Taking the cue, members of the audience turned their heads and closed their mouths.
As Mi and L’au began to play, their sound was just plain different. The performers were able to wrench so much emotion out of their acoustic guitars that the sound hung heavy and weighed upon the room, creating an undiluted connection.
The duo’s delicately picked guitar rhythms wrapped around each other, creating a sophisticated interplay that lurched slowly towards a crescendo and then dissipated into a lull. Then, in perfect synchronization, they leaned forward to sing.
Let it out
Let it in
Let it out
Let it into you…
There was a slow simmering intensity in the air, with the only distraction being the Tekken2 video game that refused to yield to the intimate music. The songs are languid, sometimes arrhythmic and always beautiful, as if the soundtrack to a dream. The audience was at such rapt attention that as one of their songs ended, the crowd just stared in stunned silence, forgetting to clap or even to move. Mi looked up and flashed a knowing smile.
All of the songs on their self-titled debut album were written in a desolate cabin in Finland. Every article written about the band mentions this fact. Because I live in Minnesota, I can imagine the cabin, in the middle of a snow-white meadow on the edge of a frozen lake. So, when I hear the songs of Mi and L’au, the stillness of a cold snowy winter permeates my mood; the sensuality of their music is easy to take in. Mi and L’au’s performance left me with a sense of mystery, a sense of curiosity, and, not unlike a good story, it left me wanting more.
Mi and L’au played the previous night with a band named The Dad in Common, whom they invited on stage to play a few songs. With the additional musicians the songs were not quite rocking, but the cello, sleigh bells and banjo filled those quiet spaces perfectly.
Photo by Bob Longmore.
Location Info:
Triple Rock Social Club
Artist Info: Mi and L'au
Share this story:
Article comments powered by Disqus