My primary motivation in going to see Mice Parade was my feeling that lately I’ve gotten stuck in a musical rut from which I’d like to escape. While I do like some electronica, it’s not on my list of preferred musical genres and unlike the rest of the Metroblogging Seattle team, I never listen to KEXP so I was utterly unfamiliar with the artist. To keep my mind as open as possible, I elected to put off listening to his album until after the show–I wanted to avoid being burdened by expectations. Now that I’ve seen Mice Parada live, I have to say that if the recorded version is half as good, I may want to own the entire Mice Parade back catalog. I also now fully understand why people seem to have such a hard time putting a label to Mice Parade’s music. “Post-rock folk electronica” ic a popular one, but Mice Parade’s soundis far too fluid to be encased in just a single category. There are definite electronica elements and definite folk elements, but mostly it’s just…music. Really good music.

Mice Parade started as a solo project by percussionist Adam Pierce, but Mice Parade live is a full band with guitars, keyboards, vocals, and, of course, plenty of percussion. And when I say band, I mean band–while Pierce is the obvious centerpiece and focal point, these are not mere handmaids to Pierce’s musical vision, but full performance partners. I was equally impressed by both the immense musical talent on display and the obvious pleasure that the musicians took in their music. The latter is no small thing; in my experience even the most tortured artist must find some joy in making music for it to be worth others listening to it.

At times earthy, at times ethereal, Mice Parade’s music is rich and deeply textured. The percussion was brilliant, of course–a high point of the show was when Pierce moved to his own drum kit next to drummer Doug Scharin’s set up. The two complemented each other so well that I almost think I could’ve listened to them drum all night. This is not to slight the other players, though, all of whom put in virtuoso performances. (I feel bad that I don’t know any of the other names, but, I definitely appreciate their talents.) The nearly full house audience were clearly engaged in the show; I think I saw tonight the least amount of wandering eyes and attentions in a long, long time. All in all a great show; the next time I see Mice Parade I will definitely have expectations, high expectations.

Also on the bill were Kira Kira, quirky pop electronica mostly made enjoyable by Kira Kira’s enormous sweet-natured charm and Tom Brousseau who played acoustic folk on guitar and harmonica and seemed like a nice, earnest young man with a soft, slightly breathy voice filled with surprisingly strong emotion.

Related posts:

1. low at the triple door
2. siberian, holy fuck!, wolf parade at neumo’s
3. addendum : wolf parade
4. wolf parade & frog eyes : a follow-up report
5. SP20 West: Foals, Wolf Parade at Neumos