Plumbing the Depths of the Dive Bar
The magnetic Alex Hwang of Run River North, Soyoung, and Me at the Run River North show, The Middle East, Cambridge, January 2020. Photo courtesy of Soyoung L. Kim.
When I first started writing this Plum Indie Blog post, I had been out and about, enjoying live music in a physical space with others. From that milling and mingling and live music sharing, up popped a memory from the depths of my experience, one of indie bands and dive bars and cold Chicago nights. Now, on this day whatever of being safe and social distancing, I’m nostalgic for both the far past and the near past—for finding myself somewhere between Chicago and Boston, standing joyfully in a room of like-minded strangers in The Middle East. The Middle East is a restaurant/night club in Cambridge on the other side of the Charles River, which meant on a decently cold Tuesday night in late-January, I had to shrug off my inclination toward throwing on flannels and calling it a day. I’m so glad I didn’t succumb to the flannels since a) being on the business end of a stay-at-home advisory none of us can do any in-person sharing stuff; and b) I got to see and hear Run River North’s incredibly awesome live show. I was introduced to Run River North, an indie band out of L.A., by my friend the artist Soyoung L. Kim, who appears in Plum Indie Blog #8 and whom I am lucky to collaborate with occasionally. Check out her latest project BRIDGE, which includes one of my songs. Anyway, after listening through the band’s recent releases Monsters Calling Home Vol 1 and Vol 2, I fell hard for Run River North—and that weeknight, cold-weather journey across the river became a looked-forward-to adventure.
I’ve likely been to The Middle East before, but on this particular January night when I opened the door to the bar’s “Upstairs”—which involves neither going up nor stairs—I felt like I had walked across time and space, $2 PBR in hand, into the lovably grungy Artful Dodger, a dive bar from my salad days in Chicago’s Wicker Park/Bucktown neighborhood. Perhaps it was the way the lights from the small stage illuminated the casual crowd, as we sipped cheap beer and stood in anticipation, that took me back—immersing me in many giddy nights watching indie bands at the Artful Dodger. I recall one particularly enterprising band made the cheeky wardrobe choice of wrapping themselves in duct tape. Although I can’t remember the name of that band, the duct tape…well, that stuck.
Run River North at The Middle East, Cambridge, MA, January 2020. Photo by Soyoung L. Kim.
Flash forward to January and The Middle East’s intimate “Upstairs”—the soft, dark lights; that electric feeling of sharing a moment with people you don’t know; the warmth of a great concert wrapping you in its cozy embrace on a chilly night. Let’s just say, Run River North grabbed me and stuck to me like, ok, duct tape. Though it’s difficult to choose just one Run River North song to highlight for this Plum Indie Blog installment, I went with the song “29” from their 2016 album Drinking From a Salt Pond. “29” had me from the get-go. It’s the poppy, persistent drums. It’s the magnetic pulse streaming from lead singer Alex Hwang’s alluring vocals. It’s the exceptional musicianship of Daniel Chae and Sally Kang, creating a solid foundation for Hwang to take off and fly. As he’s soaring around the captivated room, Hwang has that rare performer’s gift of making every single person feel as if they and he are really just hanging out on bar stools, having a beer together and swapping stories.
“Flash forward to January and The Middle East’s intimate “Upstairs”—the soft, dark lights; that electric feeling of sharing a moment with people you don’t know; the warmth of a great concert wrapping you in its cozy embrace on a chilly night.”
Ah, one of the last concerts that I will go to for a while was a perfect evening—a trifecta of artful friendship, exhilarating live music, and a dash of nostalgia where the Artful Dodger meets The Middle East. It doesn’t get much better than that on a January weeknight. Alas, the Artful Dodger closed a few years ago, but the waters—and beer—of the dive bar run deep and live on for those of us who cherish our indie venues and duct-tape band memories. It is my sincere hope that The Middle East, and indie bars and coffeehouses like it, will weather this coronavirus storm and continue on serving up interesting, shared experiences in their own unique way. For now, liven up your stay-at-home time and listen to Run River North’s “29” on the Plum Indie Blog playlist; and the next time the band goes on tour, get a ticket no matter what the temperature.