On May 23rd, Marty’s on Newport in Tustin, CA had their grand opening and Orange County’s newest concert venue knocked it out the park with their choice to book synth pop/indie rock act Geographer to headline the event. The San Francisco based, Mike Deni, and his band have been on tour since April but only recently added the Marty’s date to their Alone Time tour. The addition was so sudden that the venue info wasn’t even listed on the tour posters that were for sale in the merch booth.
Geographer was the inaugural headliner at Marty’s but if you missed out on the performance there is still plenty to look forward to there in the next few months. An entire slate of shows, from May through August, were announced last month and many of them have already sold out. This is not surprising when you step through the doors for the first time and realize the entire place is only slightly larger than your average Starbucks but will feature acts like KRS-ONE, Little Dragon, DJ Quik, Reverend Horton Heat, GZA, Evidence, Warren G, Brenton Wood, Immortal Technique, Berlin and The Adicts to name a few.
Within minutes of walking through the venue it becomes evident that there are no bad spots in the house to see the show (unless someone taller than you decides the perfect spot is right in front of you, obviously). With a full bar/kitchen right behind the dance floor and booths along the back wall you are never too far away from experiencing the performances or grabbing a drink.
Before Geographer had the chance to perform, The stage was christened by one-man-band from Sacramento, Damien Verrett a.k.a So Much Light. From the get-go you could tell he couldn’t be happier to be the first person to ever play on the new stage. A stranger to most of the audience when doors opened, So Much Light easily won the crowd over with his energy, effort, between song banter, musicianship and vocals. So Much Light had the crowd singing along to songs they had never heard before, like the extremely catchy Be Afraid and heartfelt Let It Absorb You. Using his guitar, drum machine, keyboard, looping equipment and just general kick-ass skill he set the tone for the night and had a line of people of people waiting to meet at the merch booth after his set.
After a brief intermission between sets, Geographer took the stage to close out the night. If you’ve never heard the music of Geographer before then the best way to label it is exactly how he did before performing the song So Low off of the new Alone Time EP. Deni defined it as, “Lyrically about the desolation of the soul but musically quite happy.” Songs like Kites and Read My Mind were highlights of the night and definitely require multiple adjectives to describe. The songs are equal parts catchy, hauntingly melodic, epic, joyfully sad and sadly joyful but above all they are well crafted, thoughtful and will stick with you long after you’re done listening. As legendary comedian Steve Martin once said, “Talking about music is like dancing about architecture” so the best way to truly get a sense of how Geographer masterfully performs this emotional balancing act is to see for yourself when their next tour rolls around.
In a world saturated by large festivals, intimate venues like Marty’s on Newport are a breath of fresh air for anyone hoping to see top notch musical acts without having to pay top dollar. After experiencing Marty’s, So Much Light, and Geographer all for the first time on the same night, I can’t wait to see what they all have in store next.
