This past Thursday I had the great pleasure (and unexpected assignment) of recording a microshow at Mobtown Studios (a sick friend called me at the last minute to record the show as a freelance gig), a row house-cum-recording studio and venue run by producer Mat Leffler-Schulman and designer Emily Leffler-Schulman (husband and wife, respectively). But the combination of a superior venue and superior musicality (and, perhaps, the fact that there were no more than 10 people in a 100-plus capacity space) was and is unbeatable. Now, Extra Golden is a fantastic band that sounds great pretty much anywhere that will have them. Seated at a small cafР“В© table-the next-closest audience member 10 yards away-it was a near-religious experience. Wave after wave of organic, oceanic sound filled that cavernous hall.

No digital effect, tube-driven pedal or analog recording device can approach the quality of reverb we experienced that night. The venue itself is a cavernous auditorium, with rafters and a ceiling so high it was hard to see where it became a roof. The band started late, simply because no one was there save Lloyd and me and a few other enlightened souls.

Several years ago Lloyd Cargo and I schlepped into downtown Detroit for an Extra Golden concert at the hard-to-find Bohemian National Home. Most great shows are a combination of the two. Some bands create magic regardless of where theyРІР‚в„ўre plugged in some venues can turn any haggard group of wannabes into flush maestros. Not all intimacy is created equal-in terms of musical performances, that is.

A cricket sang and set the sun notes