P(X3)
Arch Street Tavern
Hartford
Dec. 14, 2023
The organ may not be the first thing you think about when the world is ending. But at Arch Street Tavern on a Thursday night, the duo known as P(X3) gave the audience a taste of what they call “music for the end of times, the best of times, and the surrealist of times.”
The night opened with DJ So Good Looking spinning some chill beats to ease us into what awaited. The set was heavy on electronic and dance music. One thing I enjoy about electronic music is that there are no words to distract from the music. I was able to focus on how the sounds made me feel, and it was a surprisingly introspective moment for me.
When P(X3) hit the stage, I was primed for more of the same. Their music is electronic as well, but it takes an even more personal approach despite its outward playful raucousness.
P(X3) refers to itself as an “Apocalyptic Organ Duo” on their Facebook page. While apocalypse has come to mean a world ending catastrophe, it derives from the Greek word apokálupsis, which means “revelation or disclosure.” The original meaning of the word is a fitting description of the duo’s music, which is improvised on the spot. The music does feel revelatory, in particular about the artists themselves.
There are a lot of heavy “doom chords” in the performance (think of any horror movie when the organ starts playing), but these are used more as highlights for the driving beat that the synth and percussion create. It reminded me of The Omen meets George Clinton, with the improvisational freedom of jazz undergirding the performances.
But this was one of those performances where I could tell that the music wasn’t for the audience. It was for the artists themselves. If the Tavern had been completely empty, drummer Rob Madore and keyboardist Isaac Young would be going just as hard, bringing just as much energy and exuberance.
A lot of music is about what’s happening in the world, or what has happened to the artists. P(X3)’s music is about them. It’s as if they opened up their veins and bled onto their instruments for the entire set.
That doesn’t mean the music was perfect. A few solos felt like they went on a little too long. Yet even in those moments I could see it clearly, that P(X3) was so lost in the music that they had to keep going.
By the end of the performance, I didn’t feel like the world had ended. Quite the opposite- I’d been introduced to a brand new world of local electronic music from homegrown Connecticut talent.
NEXT
P(X3) performs at Roadrunner on Dec. 15.
Jamil heads back to the Wadsworth for a Curator Talk
