A couple of weeks ago I had the most pleasant experience of literally running into a cafe I'd never heard of called, The Yippie Cafe. I was with my friend Muggs, and we were looking for a mellow atmosphere, and I don't think we could find any mellower.
We entered what looked like a tiny cafe from the outside, out of pure curiosity from its name, to find a huge man sitting at a small table. He had a long beard and a jar sitting in front of him with a few bills. His name was Aron Kay, one of the oldest Yippies around. He told us it was $5 to enter, because there was music! Huzzah, we'd found the most mellow scene, just as we'd hoped. He said the name of the band playing was called Philosopher King, and they had just started their set about 10 minutes before. We didn't even hesitate and paid our dues, and entered behind a curtain to find a large wooden floored space with comfy chairs, barstool chairs around tall tables, and some sort of wooden overhang that was what used to be a loft, now with no floor. There were several photos, works of art, and murals that surrounded us on the walls. Really well decorated in my opinion, just enough to make you assume that they hadn't worked too hard, but merely stumbled upon the decorations.
But on to the most important part! The music. This band, Philosopher King, was made up of three people: a male guitar player/lead vocalist, a male bassist, and a female back-up vocalist/violinist. I felt like I'd just walked into my ideal music situation; I'm always such a sucker for violins incorporated into indie bands. They had a fantastic sound, really powerful but not too overwhelming. They were playing a cover of Anonanimal by Andrew Bird when I sat down, which was a great sign since that happens to be one of my favorite songs by the Bird himself.
Their sound was similar to a Swedish band that I'd heard of in the past year, known as First Aid Kit. That band is two female vocals with a ukulele and guitar, but the woman's voice was almost exactly the same as this sweet violin/vocalist. They continued on to sing a few David Bowie covers, some original material, and then an encore. The whole set must have been an hour, which was a lot more than I expected for such a small band playing at such a small venue. There must have been a total of 10 people sitting in the whole cafe. All I knew was that their sound had so much potential to be big, but I really appreciated the fact that they were playing such a heartfelt show for such a small audience. The guitarist must have been 25...(actually, he told me he was 25 when I talked to him afterward...) and he was extremely gifted with the guitar. He could be playing folk jams one second, then surprise us with a beautiful jazzy improvisation or something of the likes. Think John Mayer, but not solo, John Mayer Trio guitar. That's what he reminded me of. The band responded so well to each other though...and the bassist was ready to go with anything.
After the performance ended, Muggs and I walked up to the band (we were after all 5 feet away from them) and talked to them for a bit. They told us about how this was their first show in New York City, and how they'd come from all over the country. Their commonality? They all love music. And giving it to people. And that's what it's all about, isn't it?
It's a beautiful thing, to have found such amazing musicians in the middle of such a nook in New York City. Really makes me excited to see what else is out there.
