Emerson Dorsch's New Music Series Gives Scene a Much-Needed Boost

While Miamians are enthusiastic about homegrown live music, Magic City venues can't seem to keep their doors open. The newest casualty of this sonic crisis is the Club. The tiny North Miami bar with checkered floors and experimental sounds followed in the footsteps of other great spots like Churchill's Pub, 777 Mall, and Las Rosas, leaving a gaping hole in the scene.

At times, art galleries have stepped up to compensate for some of that lack by commissioning musicians to perform in their spaces. Recently, Brook Dorsch and Tyler Emerson, owners of Emerson Dorsch, gave musicians Danny Clapp and Juan Gonzalez the green light to start Community, a performance series focused on sound at the gallery's Little Haiti location. This kind of art-meets-music platform isn't new to Emerson Dorsch, which has often beefed up a slim scene by letting gallery-goers experience acts like Rene Barge, Rat Bastard, Cock E.S.P., Dracula, Otto Von Schirach, and Donzii in an arts space. Other galleries that offer this kind of platform include Locust Projects, Swampspace, and Edge Zones.

Clapp, who is also the gallery manager at Emerson Dorsch, was thrilled with the series' opening performance on Saturday, August 3, featuring metalheads Corpse Chrysalis and former New Times writer Gucci Handelsman (AKA Jason Handelsman).

"Richie Moreno of Corpse Chrysalis goes all the way with his black metal aesthetic," Clapp says. "All of his gear he's custom made, whether it's glowing upside down crosses or skeleton scenery." Gucci Handelsman took the floor in a cloak and brought out a choir of screaming women. "It really set the night off, took it to the next place," he explains.
Even though the performances were spirited, including wrestling on the floor and breaking records, the performers were careful not to mess with the artwork on display.

"It keeps in line with Brook Dorsch's history at the space. He's kind of a no-limit soldier like that. There's no idea that's too wild for him. He makes me have to be cooler," Clapp adds. The artists are compensated so they feel appreciated. "As part of this community, we need sustaining, and part of that is money," he explains.

Upcoming shows include a score by musician, artist, and label owner Richard Vergez to provide the soundscape for established dancers Ana Mendez and Marcela Loayza on Saturday, August 10, for a "punk-meets-Fluxus aesthetic." Series curators Clapp and Gonzalez will perform on Saturday, August 31, as Das saD with live synthesizers and drum machines. Artist Alberto Checa, whose exhibition is up at the gallery and features a sound installation that helped inspire the series, will perform on Saturday, September 7, but Clapp has no idea what he's going to do with his time.

"With these artists, we give them leeway," he says. "We're booking them because we respect them; we'd never tell them what to do. To have a space to be able to do that is awesome."

Community will be an ongoing series, though, in blocks when it makes sense for the gallery. There will be some performances between exhibitions when the performances will be too rowdy for the art.

Community. With Ana Mendez, Marcela Loayza, and Richard Vergez. 7 to p.m. Saturday, August 10, at Emerson Dorsch, 5900 NW Second Ave., Miami; emersondorsch.com. Admission is free.