Anything, no matter how exciting at first, has the unfortunate ability to eventually grow dull and tired. However, I imagine this secret concert in a cave captured on video by a GoPro is void of that rule. I guess considering the hike involved (especially for the performers, who were likely lugging their own gear), it could get rough to repeat after a certain point. It's all worth it in the end, though: In this GoPro-guided video, we catch a breathtaking live performance from singer-songwriters Will Fourt and Sheila Golden with special guest Alisa Rose as they lay down some tracks from their new record. With magical halos of white twinkling lights strung around the cavernous space and an adoring audience, it's a pretty remarkable experience, even from our current (hopefully drier) perches.
It isn't exactly clear where this concert takes place—duh, that's part of the secret—but we do know it was hand-carved to originally exist as a wine cellar. Another thing we know, strangely enough, is this isn't the only cave where concerts are held. Really! Apparently there's another limestone venue in McMinnville, Tennessee, called Bluegrass Underground (how meta!), transformed from the pre-existing Cumberland Caverns. Well, as they say in the secret cave concert video, nothing sounds as good as it does in a cave.
Ducking into that limited threshold only to step into an equally limited, potentially stuffy space sounds like a nightmare for anyone remotely afflicted with claustrophobia. However, for the normal people out there, this offers a super unique audio/visual experience. Imagine the acoustics, especially. Man, I want to go.
For comparison, here's some footage from the significantly way more huge Bluegrass Underground series. It's singer-songwriter/master whistler Andrew Bird:
Obvious reasons create pretty strict parameters for cave performances. Stalactites dropping all around you in a cave-in would make for a slightly bummer encore. As such, there's no amplification going on. I can't imagine electricity would be a good idea with all the dampness around, either. Sadly, I think that means we are never gonna see a band like The Warning bring their live show to a limestone stage anytime soon or likely ever.
So who finds these unorthodox performance venues? Folks who go spelunking, which is a beautiful word for exploring underground rock formations and caving that we all need to use more often. Not surprisingly, caving is very dangerous. Anyone who remembers 1995's Gold Diggers: The Secret Of Bear Mountain (both of us) could have predicted as much. But I mean, think about the condo potential hiding in those rock masses...
I know Gold Diggers probably aims to be more of a cautionary tale of caving and all its dangers (spoiler alert: the young woman from My Girl gets temporarily trapped but Christina Ricci and possibly a ghost [my memory is hazy about specifics] rescue her from the rubble), but now I'm kinda stuck on how cool a cave bungalow would be. Then again, the ultra stylish vampire dudes of 1987's The Lost Boys also hung hard in a cave:
Caves, man. Not a bad place to chill, maybe. Anyone up for a little light weekend spelunking?
Images: YouTube(2)
