Concert Review: Julie Byrne Makes Me Meditate In Church
Park Church Co-Op is quickly becoming my concert obsession. Concerts at a church are fascinating, from Hand Habits to Cigarettes After Sex, because you cannot avoid its association with holiness. Thus, I was readying to be struck by the quiet, spiritual storms Julie Byrne sings. With melodies that caress like sweet whispers upon your ear, she plays to the frustrating boredom you can have with your life, and a church setting is the perfect place to spiritually dump how “over” your life you can be.
If there is one place where complaints and doubts have been most heard, it is church. As Julie Byrne sang about stressing over a 9 to 5 and taking a weekend away from her cell to re-wire her brain. Everybody at the church could relate, and even cheered as she regaled her genuine search to feel connected, but not through work promotions or wireless data. The smiley songstress is incredibly sweet, and even with microphone issues managed to charm the crowd. Yet, for me, the best aspect of her concert was how meditative she is as a singer/ person. At one point she closed her eyes and played her guitar with an unmovable stillness. She, suddenly, appeared like a noble statue while a fellow guitarist and violinist went on a six-minute sonic soliloquy. The only reason I knew she was human is because she played the guitar as if her hands were running through water; gracefully and curiously. It was both awe-inspiring and jealousy- inducing to see her shut down and tune out so quickly and beautifully. We all wish we had a mental trap-door, in which we could fall through in the face of discomfort and land in an image of peace. Byrne is certainly an image/ aura of serenity. Draped in ra ainbow glittered dress, she looked like a goddess readying to give her mortal crowd something they need: compassion.
Not Even Happiness is an excellent album because it gives music permission to spiritually sit in your turmoil, and not try to distract or runaway from it. You have as much right to be angry as you have the right to be joyful. In a world, where “okay” seems like the only emotional height we can achieve, Byrne aims for happiness, and does not mind singing to her failed reaches. With a voice the vaporizes through notes like light through fog, Byrne is a concert to see when you want to listen. For More Information On Julie Byrne Click Here.
