Sunday night, February 21, 2010, was breezy and cool and the threat of rain hung heavy in the air. But nothing was going to dampen my sprits that night because I was in Hollywood to catch Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn performing at the Bootleg Theater. Mirah is a 35-year-old indie singer/songwriter with ties to the bay area and Pacific Northwest...a true individual in a world of blurred individuality. Mirah possess what the Los Angeles Times recently described as a "pristine alto," and I jumped at the opportunity to see her perform live (her last LA appearance was last April at The Echo to debut her album "(a)spera").
I arrived about two hours early. I'd never been to the Silverlake district and wanted to hangout a little. I was, to say the least, taken aback by the Bootleg Theater. The Bootleg is one of dozens of little theaters that dot the ragged L.A. landscape. To describe it as stark is a flagrant understatement. The Bootleg Theater is nothing more than four bare walls, a floor, and a rickety little stage. In fact, due to its lack of seating, décor, and lighting, The Bootleg has all the quaint ambiance of a World War II British air raid shelter.
With time on my hands and no place to sit, I decided to have a walk around the neighborhood and find a quiet bar to hibernate in. It wasnt difficult. I've forgotten the name of the little place, but after downing five or six Rusty Nails (prepared by Pablo de la Cruz, the extraordinarily generous barkeep) it was time to wander back to the Bootleg.
I took up a position at the right front corner of the stage beside a large stack of amplifiers. I estimate there was an audience of 150 people, the majority of which were young women (Mirah is openly gay) but I was a not particularly surprised by the relatively large number of young men.
I was minding my own business, absentmindedly looking around at the crowd, when suddenly I turned around and there was Mirah tuning her guitar on stage. Mirah is not very tall but slim and athletic looking with dancers legs and tousled shoulder length dark brown hair. She was barefoot and wearing a simple short dress over a black leotard. I couldn't help but notice that many in the audience were gazing with dewy fascination.
She seemed in fine sprits. Mirah's uniquely original songs celebrate the glories and delights of love and romance as well as the unsavory complications of live. She announced (tongue firmly in cheek) that this was last show in a "grueling" three day tour, and that she would be performing a cross section of music from her vast and impressive body of work. She was accompanied by Kane Mathis, a Seattle based musician who is a virtuoso on guitar and kora.
The show lasted for just over an hour and was extremely satisfying; however, the incessant guitar tuning eventually became annoying. Mirah also seemed a little distracted; furtively glancing around the room at times (especially towards the end of the performance), and occasionally seeming at a loss for words.
When the show was over, and the rickety little stage was finally empty and quiet, the audience slowly began to meander on to Beverly Boulevard. A cool, misty rain was softly falling and I stopped to enjoy it. I stood under a yellow street lamp and turned my face to the sky. It was at that moment a revelation of Biblical proportions shook me to the very foundations of my soul - for this, it suddenly occurred to me, was no ordinary rain shower, but instead a significant heavenly anointing - my water baptism, as it were, into the rainbow-colored world of Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn. I walked back to my car and smiled. I imagined that I would probably never be the same again.
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This is wonderful... she is fantastic~
As are you! =)
HeidiSaid 1 year ago