The fierce magic of human creativity cannot be contained, restrained or repressed for long. Our essential need to create will shatter any barrier. So, if you’ve ever stopped in your tracks to marvel at a dandelion busting through a crack in the cement, you’ll love the music happening at what locals call the Mission Tile Auditorium this coming Sunday August 11.
The “Auditorium” is in fact the spacious parking lot of Mission Tile West in South Pasadena, an artisanal ceramic tile venue discussed in hushed tones among interior designers and home décor DIY-ers as an esthetic experience falling somewhere between The Museum of Ice Cream and Disneyland.
The Mission Tile Music Series germinated in 2021 in the midst pf the pandemic, perhaps because people were longing to get off the couch and vibe together. Local musicians who had a serendipitous link to Mission Tile West (MTW) performed wearing masks, sacrificing sound-quality for a moment of shared belonging, however socially distanced.
As it turns out, Tisa Adamson who owns and manages MTW is also a gifted songwriter, guitarist and vocalist – who knew?
Real estate agents continue to chant the mantra, Location, Location, Location, and in fact the location of a specific apartment building proved to be the creative crucible that spawned the concert series. Married-to-each-other musicians Paul McCarty and Marina Gutman, known as Non Duo, already knew Adamson from the local music scene, and moving into the apartment building where she resides was a catalyst of sorts. Further fanning the creative flame was the fact that fellow musicians Cynthia Brando and Ed Tree, along with Mr. Bass-Man Nate Light, already lived there. Tree is also the producer who mixed Non Duo’s second album.
Songwriter-guitarist-vocalist McCarty says, “It was easy to reach the conclusion that we should start up a series. Mission Tile West is configured in such a concert-friendly way. There’s a two-story horseshoe- shaped building with a gated parking lot. Opposite the entry is their tile showroom which opens wide to the parking lot with a huge garage-door style entry in front. We set up a PA, chairs in the parking lot, a merch table, and have a fun night along with musical guests.”
On the bill for Sunday’s show are Non Duo, Tisa Adamson, Ed Tree, Cynthia Brando, Karman Jeanne & The Fish, The Ateliers, and Luann Olson & Randell Kirsch.
In our place in time where enjoying live music can cost the equivalent of leasing a Lambo – we just returned from Bethel Woods, NY, a.k.a. Woodstock, to hear Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Alison Kraus and Robert Plant, where the good seats listed in the quadruple-digits – how refreshing to discover live music in the heart of our city, at a place where we never even thought to look. McCarty adds that more concerts are likely in September and October.
DEETS
- Mission Tile Music Series
- 853 Mission Street, South Pasadena
- Sunday, August 11
- Doors open at 5:30 PM, show starts at 6:00 PM
- Donation of $15 requested, via Venmo, Paypal, Zelle
- Questions and payment: [email protected]
