Mirah and friends make magic in Metro Detroit

October 16, 2008, at the Crofoot Ballroom

By Laura Leebove
Published: October 18th, 2008 | 5:25pm

Mirah’s October 16 show was a treat for not only the audience, but also the four acts that met at Pontiac, Michigan’s Crofoot Ballroom, the somewhat obscure place where the Mirah/No Kids and Mount Eerie/Julie Doiron tours collided. “This is kind of a dream bill for me,” said Mount Eerie leader and ex-Microphones frontman Phil Elverum. “Not just because of the high quality of music — except for us, of course. We all know each other and have for a long time.”

As a result of all the musicians’ Pacific Northwest roots, their paths have crossed many times: Elverum explained that Doiron was in his favorite band, Eric’s Trip, and she plays some of his favorite music. Elverum lived in Olympia, Washington, with Mirah, and Mount Eerie recently toured with No Kids in Europe.

As Mirah pointed out in her first minute on stage, the show — which lasted about four hours — was a test of endurance. “You guys are really in it for the night!” she said. “It’s a lot to take in.” She was right, especially with the dreamy and mostly low-key nature of everyone’s music, but no one really seemed to mind.

The chemistry and camaraderie among the musicians enhanced the show immensely: Elverum joined No Kids on stage to sing a hilarious song about lamp posts, crack pipes, tree stumps, and bean bags; and the bulk of Mount Eerie’s set consisted of Elverum, Doiron and guitarist Fred Squire’s collaborative album Lost Wisdom (P.W. Elverum & Sun) in its entirety.

While Mount Eerie played, a fan yelled out, “I love you, Phil!” to which Elverum responded, “Shucks.” That relaxed brand of modesty carried over through the show — all of the performers graciously accepted cheers from their fans. Just as grounded, Mirah sat quietly at her merch booth before the show to write her name on all of her T-shirts with an orangey-pink fabric marker (she later explained that there was a printing mistake and her name somehow didn’t make it on the shirts).

Mirah, full name Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn, entered the stage barefoot with only her guitar and played a short-but-sweet set that thrived on cute banter between songs. “I just regained full use of my left pinky. I chopped off the tip of it,” she told the crowd. Upon realizing how horrifying that sounded, she followed the statement with, “Maybe ‘sliced’ is a better word.”

Though mostly healed, Mirah’s pinky did cause complications — she had to restart a couple of songs to play them differently, and then the little “cap” she had on it to protect the wound almost ripped off during “Don’t Die In Me.” But the little instrumental mistakes only added to the charm. Mirah’s voice, however, was flawless: always as crystal clear and perfectly in tune with her records. Among old favorites like “Person Person” (as per fan request), “Mt. St. Helens,” and “Apples in the Trees,” Mirah previewed her upcoming album, which she said she just finished recording and will likely be released in March.

Mirah played solo until the encore, during which she joined forces with the other musicians and exclaimed, “Look at my cute friends!” After teaching them the “caveman beat” on the drums and employing the rain stick application on Elverum’s iPhone (Yes, an iPhone was played onstage, and yes, the world might be ending), Mirah sang “The Garden” sans guitar and ended the show with a graceful slide onto her knees to meet her friends at the other end of the stage.