The Malah - The 5 Spot, Atlanta, GA (3.17.2010)

Listen while you read...

The Malah - Live at the HGMN Party, Mebane, NC (3.28.2009)


(Note: Cycle through songs using the back and forward buttons on the media player. Or just let it play... that works too. Go to the Internet Archive to download The Malah's live music. Most of the shows that they have posted are of extremely high soundboard quality)

Here I sit less than 8 hours since I left Little Five Points. It’s that time of morning again where I drag myself out of bed, throw on some combination of the various slacks and button up shirts that line my closet, and prepare myself for the mindless, mundane tasks that I will surely carry out over the next 8 hours. But today, refusing to let this place be the death of my creative ingenuity, I write. Not because I’m bored or because I think that I have some sort of knowledge that I need to share with everyone… I write because it offers release. It allows thought and emotion to be released from the constraints of the mind and forces you to take a step back and look at things from a different perspective. Sort of the opposite effect that this cubical has on me. Besides, is there something better I could be doing? I truly believe that having the ability to harness your imagination and convert it into some form of the arts has a value that most people never realize. So often I hear people say “I’m such a terrible writer” or “I could never learn to play the piano like that”. But the attempt is absent. By simply trying to express yourself creatively, you are already succeeding, whether you realize it or not. I have been playing the guitar for almost 5 years now and I could probably tell you next to nothing about the technicalities of the instrument itself. All I know is that it creates sound, and when I play those notes that resonate well with my ears, it offers an incredible form of release.

After getting home from work last night, plopping myself on the couch, and popping off the top of a #9 in celebration of St. Patty’s day, I texted my friend Frazier to get his insight on the local show going on that evening. “Should I check it out?” I inquire. His response: “1,000,000 times yes”. Frazier gets down on a whole slew of jam-tronica madness at his home base in Chicago and if I were going to be taking anybody’s advice on this type of music, it was going to be his. 1,000,000 times yes… good enough for me. Besides, it was St. Patty's Day. If I couldn’t be on some East Lansing lawn with a PBR in one hand, a burger in my mouth, and tossing a bean bag at a small hole from 30 feet away, The Malah might be the next best thing. So I scarf down some dinner and begin my journey towards the city. It’s sort of a hassle living 15 minutes north of the city. And that’s with no traffic. 90% of the time, there’s traffic. Regardless, I never mind taking a trip to Little Five Points. Plenty of bars, record stores, and other nooks and crannies you can get lost in. If you can avoid all the hipsters frantically running around, rummaging through the vintage clothing shops all hopped up on Mocha, chances are you will run into a few like-minded folk to sit and have a drink with – share perspective. I had been to The 5 Spot once before to see a man who calls himself That 1 Guy. It was an entertaining show to say the least and I really loved the environment. Reason #1 – they had Two Hearted Ale in the bottle. A little taste of Michigan. Reason #2 – the general lighting, use of space, and artwork hanging on the walls. Good vibes for certain. Reason #3 – the watering hole. Ever since a trip to The Orbit Room in Grand Rapids that Karrin and I took to see Umphrey’s McGee, I have been particularly observant of this. I think I can easily recall a conversation I had with a security guard that night.

Me: “Excuse me, where are the drinking fountains?”
Douche Bag Security Guard: “We don’t have drinking fountains here. You can buy a bottle of water up at the bar for $5”
Me: “Are you serious… you guys have a lot of metal shows here don’t you?”
DBSG: “Yeah”
Me: “You guys sell nothing but alcohol… and there are probably a lot of kids doing drugs here too, right?”
DBSG: Shrugs
Me: "So... a lot of people probably getting dehydrated out there?" His general lack of concern has me infuriated. I turn away in disgust.
DBSG: “Hey, hey, come back here. I’ll tell you a secret” he motions for me to lean in closer and says “you can take your cup, head into the bathroom, and fill it up there” pointing to my empty beer cup and smiling like he had just given me the world’s greatest secret.
Me: “Thanks a lot… buddy.”

There should be some sort of law concerning access to free water. This particular fiasco happened after the staff refused to let us enter the venue with an empty Nalgene… those bastards. Bell’s patrons hover around the Eccentric Café’s watering hole like thirsty buffalo’s, splashing a little bit on their faces so they can sober up and make a realistic attempt at getting home. The shit is gold. The same orange jug sits inside The 5 Spot and after a pair of Two Hearted ales, I’m thankful they have it.


I arrived around 10:00pm thinking that the band had probably already started. I found the place empty and had an opportunity to snap a few shots of the venue before it filled up a bit. The easel set up on stage had me intrigued from the get-go. I am growing increasingly accustomed to seeing a whole plethora of Apple laptops, midi controllers, synths, pedals and other electronic gadgets plastered amidst the more familiar sight of guitars, amps, and drums. It’s a digital playground. The evolution of modern music has been taking place right under our noses, almost without notice, and it is changing the way we perceive music. I first heard STS9 about 3 years ago. “Too digital” I thought. “Where’s the talent? Anyone with an Apple can make this sort of music.” My views have evolved as well. These musicians have talent (to say the least), vision, and a boundless number of tools at their disposal to bring that vision to life. The bands that are standing the test of time these past few decades are the ones who have shown an apparent ability to adapt to the dynamic realm of digital music. Umphrey’s, String Cheese… there is nothing traditional about these live performances. It’s an onslaught of genre jumping, thought provoking, musical innovation; The Malah fits the bill.

Shortly after my arrival, the trio takes the stage along with an artist whose name I wish I could recall. I had seen this done before. SCI at Rothbury maybe? Anyway, the band lets it be known that they are going to do an acoustic set, and follow that up with two sets of electric music. The Malah is a band of few words and it wasn’t long before they were off and running with the first jam of the night. The sounds hit me like a pulse wave; like some Star Trek character was hiding inside the speaker stacks shooting sonic waves out of some little space weapon. Synth textures and methodical beats filled the spaces inside The 5 Spot while the bass guitarist made a statement early on. I couldn’t help but feel like this acoustic set was a bit empty however (this I realized only after hearing them play the next set). It was just hard for me to listen to these light fluffy acoustics over what seemed like a background of much more dominant and omnipresent tones. I was enjoying it nonetheless. The Malah’s music takes you on a journey. It allows you to travel off to some distant land that only exists in your imagination, or perhaps the imagination of these musicians. It’s your journey; the music is simply your tour guide. “Off to your immediate left you will see an aquatic soundscape filled with the music of bubbles rising to the surface and an underwater volcano raging with fiery pressure beneath the ocean floor. And coming up here on your right we have a rich, earthy atmosphere of electronic grooves that take flight into the outer limits of the solar system.” One thing that makes a band great is their ability to create and resolve tension. They take you on a wild ride that continuously builds pressure and tension inside your head until they ultimately resolve this tension and relieve you of this un-relentless pressure, leaving you gasping for air and happy to be alive. Remember when String Cheese resolved back into “Rollover” at the conclusion of their first set at Rothbury? Yeah, it’s like that… and The Malah does this well.

Not too long into the second set I encountered a group of people who set up shop right next to me. We began shooting the shit and they immediately introduced themselves. The ladies down here all seem to have two first names – Kara Lynne (not to be confused with Caroline), Emmalou, Kay Lee, and… Nick I believe. It was nice to finally converse with some cool people even though it took me a couple rounds of them quizzing me to get all their names right. These southern natives had a couple of years of All Good Festival under their belts and we discussed the jam scene for a bit before taking to the dance floor and embarrassing ourselves for a short while.
This group reminded me of my dance-prone friends back home. The people who dance without concern for how they might look to others are the best people to dance with. And who cares, really, how good or bad of a dancer you are? Is dancing even classifiable? In my opinion, if you’re moving, you’re grooving!

I take a break for awhile to get some pictures of the scene on stage. The man behind the easel has been going nuts since the beginning of the show. I don't know how often The Malah collaborates with artists like this, but they should consider making it a habit. This band provides the PERFECT music for a painter to do his thing and I can’t help but feel like this guy was absolutely psyched to be sharing the stage with these musicians and immersing himself in his artwork in front of an audience. I mean, what a concept. Who would have ever thought mixing two incredible art forms into one engaging, live experience would have been such a good idea... The painting was full of vibrant pastels and organic colors. The image of two women, one of them appearing to be Native American, grew and developed throughout the duration of the show. Her head was immersed in a mirage of birds, feathers and one particularly breathtaking image of what appeared to be an Oriole with its wings wrapped comfortingly around the woman’s head. This artist’s natural ability for creating overlapping colors and textures was truly impressive.

It was time for me to cash out and call it an evening after the conclusion of the second set. It certainly pained me to miss out on the third. Had it not been a Wednesday night, I would have surely stuck around to rage for the duration. But it was late, and the stinky ass breath of reality was panting heavily down the back of my neck. Thank you, Malah, for expanding my perspective. Hopefully we meet again soon.