Concert Review: Stu Larsen & Natsuki Kurai Are Two Best Buds At Mercury Lounge
I love when people like each other, and I believe that fun is a greater source to creativity than pain. Sometimes, we get roped into the idea of the “tortured artist,” and how his or her self-loathing was a door to endless talent Yet, when you are speaking to or for pain, emotional distance from that negativity will makes you clearer in describing it. In the case of Stu Larsen and Natsuki Kurai, you have two men who truly believe the other is “amazing,” and publicly declared it, at Mercury Lounge, while they sang songs about feeling down.
In life, “nowhere” is not a place, but a state of being. From “Thirteen Sad Farewells” to ” Chicago,” Stu Larsen sang to the moments when your life felt like a prison. A person can be in a luxurious penthouse and another in the middle of the Grand Canyon, but both can be in the same place: nowhere. This is a spiritual location, and Stu Larsen’s voice captures the life of this locale. His songs balm over pain like a hand rubbing medicine on an open wound; at first it burns you to hear verses like “I’m breaking” because you have, probably, repeated that phrase before. Yet, when you hear it over a guitar and harmonica, it no longer has power over you.
A melody can be freeing, and Stu Larsen understands that. Yet, more importantly, he understood that Natsuki Kurai is a harmonica legend. I have NEVER experienced someone play the harmonica so beautifully and richly. Suddenly, this little piece of rectangular metal and plastic can build a forest of sound, and Natsuki is the wind that rustles its leaved rhythms. Trust me! My words fail me in describing how magnificent Natsuki is as an instrumentalist: turning the harmonica into an orchestra. Yet, he is so humble about it. It is Stu that amiably brags for him, and shows when you love what you are creating and with, you’re art is unstoppably powerful. This point felt poignant as their inner circle of music grew with the presence of Tim Hart.
Hart’s voice could sing the sacred of the Bible. He sings like he is a messenger rising from a hollow. Hence, he felt perfect in making a trio with Natsuki and Stu for tracks like, “The Mile.” In the middle of the audience, they were surrounded by dim lights and a pack of New Yorkers whom understand what it is to grind everyday to get “somewhere” in life, but have no idea where that “somewhere” is. In some ways, Stu Larsen is the voice of all of us who know that we have to get to better strides, but in which ocean is up for debate. For More Information On Stu Larsen Click Here.
