Review: Mk.gee in Portland
ON A SOLD-OUT RUN OF SHOWS, Mk.gee stops by on a quiet Monday night in Portland, OR performing Two Star & The Dream Police, a debut record that sounds quite like nothing else released in the past several years. The venue for the evening, Revolution Hall, is famously known as the auditorium of a former high school that’s been closed since 1981, a fitting footnote for many of the sounds heard on the record.
I was standing in the middle of the floor anxiously wondering about the acoustics from my spot as the lights went dark with nothing but three spotlights cutting through the sharp silhouettes of the three members approaching the stage. Most notably, Mk.gee takes the spotlight to the left in a coat with a hoodie underneath where the songwriter remains most of the night working through a setlist that gives in to seamless transitions between each song.
The opening song, “How many miles”, introduces us to a slow burn that’s heard all throughout the set and there’s no better introduction to Mk.gee’s performance since the build up of each song ultimately reaches a cooing crescendo behind Mk.gee’s vocals. From all the reverb to the hiss of the tape machines seemingly present underneath the mix, the room never once felt empty or quiet enough to hear the chatter you might usually hear at a show from a soft spoken artist.
The level of respect was equally acknowledged from Mk.gee who thanked a few lucky fans, shaking their hands before heading off stage. Drones of bass hummed and filled the room to a crowd eagerly cheering for the final song of the set. A number of us quickly figured out there’s really only one song left to play. The snappy percussion of “Alesis” soon bounces off the auditorium walls, a standout single from Two Star & The Dream Police, and Mk.gee returns to stage to offer us a perfect nightcap.The stage lights up beyond the three spotlights, giving us a brighter glimpse of the band and denoting one final connection between Mk.gee, the crowd, and a special evening we were all fortunate to share
