The Microphones

Phil Elvrum, also known as The Microphones, also known as Mount Eerie, came to play a little show at a little place in Seattle. Troy invited me to come along, and I brought Ann. The place was the back room of some kind of art studio, with random objects lying about, scribblings on the walls, and artworks in various states of completion. About 100 very tall indie guys and very short indie girls fit into the room, sitting pressed together on the concrete floor. After the very hip and indie opening acts, the unassuming guy who’d been manning the CD table took the stage; he was Phil Elvrum, and he’d been sitting there the whole time. He just stood there, flipping through his notebook and playing any song that caught his eye, sometimes making things up on the spot. I couldn’t describe why he was great; he simply had enough charisma to keep all of us hanging on every goofy word he said. I wanted to take some real pictures, but my camera was out of batteries and I was uncertain how considerate it would be to setting off flashes in such close quarters anyway.