Listener
Sunday, November 15th at the Empyrean Coffee House

I have no degree in English or Journalism. I am a kid who is a music fan doing the best I can to describe my experiences in the Spokane Scene. Therefore when I stare at my writing about all of the poets I saw on Sunday night I just sit and think how can I describe poets when they are the true writers with a mind dictionary bigger then the bible and degree’s of all sorts. My words would look imprudent to the beautifully written poems that were read to me tonight.

I have the utmost respect for the group I saw on Sunday. These quick clever guys and gals can creatively & refreshingly create pictures and events in your mind with words. Every poet that read was on top of their game. They each had their own personality too. I didn’t feel like I was hearing the same thing over and over; each spoke with a different tone, some used their hands and facial expressions, and others wrapped up my attention with the flow. These poets created music with the rhythm of their words. It was a treat to experience that.

Spoken Nerd was a poet/rapper that took his words and mixed them with beats and his shinning personality. Bursting with character and red hair I liked his take on writing. His set was fun and he had the room laughing. He performed “Synchronicity” which was about how when you make eye contact and you wish to say something but sometimes you don’t; we can all relate to that. I loved “Christmas Time in the Club,” and his Santa shirt he rocked for the rest of the night. Spoken Nerd is Spoken Nerd, he has his panache and sticks to it; he rocked it. For his last song Dan from Listener joined in and you could tell how much fun the two were having together. Their spirit for poetry and their styles mixed well. Check out Spoken Nerd’s myspace here and see what you missed!

Listener stimulates my mind like a train, once he starts I just keep tugging along further and further into the words. He’s implausible live. The second he steps on stage he turns into another person. He marches to his own drum and loves it with all of his heart and mind. I respect his words and take on expressing himself. I will always make a point to see him. He even continued tonight with a sore throat – not fun especially because he uses a lot of vocals! Listener travels with a computer, a few horns, oh and a washing machine which he uses like an instrument, which Chris from Fienix plays. He played a few crowd favorites along with new and old songs and ended the night with my favorite “Ozark empire or a snake oil” that Spoken Nerd also spoke in.

The night showed off our local poets and Fienix (which I missed LAME!), Spoken Nerd, and Listener. Please take a minute and check out their Myspace page’s one song – give it a shot. As Kurt Olson said Spokane has a great art scene but we won’t admit it… we are too blue collar. We need to recognize how cool our scene is and people need to hear about what the heck is going on and then check it out. Listener’s myspace is here, it’s up to you too click.

Check out more photos from the show here!

Andrea@checkitoutmusic.com