Tabor Mountain / Dropped Call / Captain Captain @ The Miniplex
TABOR MOUNTAIN aka Patrick Tabor cut his teeth in the North Coast DIY music scene and now lives in Oakland, CA. He’s a prolific musician in his short career, being involved with infamous projects CREEPY MARBLES (humboldt), DIESEL DUDES (oakland) and the HBI collective. It’s a rare treat to catch Tabor playing in Humboldt these days, and he did not disappoint that night at Richard’s Goat. His heartfelt, genuine pop songs are catchy and uplifting and inspire a positive and joyous party. You’ve got a magic heart and Tabor is going to make sure you remember that.
DROPPED CALL is the project of Quade “The Boss” Ross (-CREEPY MARBLES, TEBOTJF, HBI) hailing from Fortuna, CA. A black sheep of an area acrimoniously referred to as “Fortucky,” where most folks inexplicably speak with a southern drawl, Quade does not. DROPPED CALL set began with an inspirational sermon about friendship, being stoked, and loving one another and transitioned into a meditative and beautiful soundscape utilizing live and recorded samples and piano. A backdrop video loop of the Dale Earnhardt crash from 2001 was supposed to accompany the performance, as it has special significance because it is the only time Quade has seen his father cry.
CAPTAIN CAPTAIN is the project of Devin "Kevin" Roland, an illustrious local renaissance man who is seemingly attempting to bring the noise music scene back to Arcata in full-force by his own wits. And he's doing it well. Captain Captain is a comic book, it's a video collage, and noise music all at once. Sitting on his knees on the concrete floor, hunched over a bouquet of hand-buildt and customized sound providers, Captain Captain's set was reliant on tape loop soundscapes made with a series of loop pedals and circuit bent alerotoric children's toys. It was dope. If you stood on your tipie-toes you could see him playing his little Casio, twisting knobs and flipping switches in front of a hodgepodge of VHS sample video recordings playing on the movie screen behind him--which he also makes--an outstanding visual aid that is as sparce and full of the same continuity that glistens in his music. Half found VHS tapes, half shot footage by the man himself on a vintage 90's VHS camera which he then edits and effects on a computer before composing music to the finished imagery. Captain Captain is the local pioneer that will make most noise heads barely resist the urge of standing on a near by table and uttering the phrase, "Oh Captain, My Captain."
