Saturday 5/3, IX Art Park
Ships In The Night, the one-gal, electronic, smoke-and-mirrors synth project of Charlottesville’s own Alethea Leventhal, descends from the ethereal mists for what local fans will recognize as a performance wrapped in a thematic event. SITN has a recurring habit of playing all manner of spookily framed balls, proms, raves, and just about anything shy of a barn dance, at least as of the time of this writing. It’s the perfect ruse to level up with marketing and get the kids out of their houses. But it’s a fair trade as this evening promises to be a platform for her reliably solid music, only slightly obscured by other attractions for those with short attention spans.
This celebration of recently passed auteur David Lynch will arrive via a “Twin Peaks”-inspired Black Lodge, likely complete with fog machines, red velvet curtains, and, according to the promotional material, coffee and donuts. DJ Bobby Metronome will spin tracks of the Lynchian variety, adding to the irreal mood, though probably veering from the extended uncomfortable noisescapes that colored his films.
For SITN, the event doubles as an album release party for the full-length Protection Spells. The first single, “Blood Harmony,” provides a whispery synth-pop piece that could potentially make some people dance. If the rest of the new record’s anything like that, and by extension, Leventhal’s earlier releases Myriologues (2017) and Latent Powers (2021), it signals an admirable continuation of more airy Good Witch narratives. Depending on the song, its levels of reverb, delay, and the venue’s acoustics, Leventhal’s voice can carry a passing resemblance to Lynch’s musical muse, the late Julee Cruise. The SITN live set pushes similar buttons, awash in dreamy sine waves and melancholy.
Costumes are encouraged, but if you’ve ever gone to any goth-adjacent events in this town (which this stands to be), it’s often hard to know who’s in fancy dress and who’s just wearing what they always wear on a Saturday. So while the famous filmmaker’s ghost won’t necessarily be there, this ball should still be more than weird enough.
Supplied photo
