By Michaela Maxey

As my friends and I walk up to Phog Lounge, we’re greeted by a group of people smoking outside. One of the women smiles and says hello. We say hello back and then enter, engulfed by the living art that is Phog Lounge.

It’s impossible to live in Windsor, Ontario and not know Phog Lounge. It’s every students’ go-to place for drinks and music. It’s small with graffiti art on the outside of the building, a mosaic sun patterning the floor, and pictures/paintings from local artists decorating the walls and ceiling. If this bar had a slogan, it would be “We’re all broke here” – a complete haven for all who need a break from the stress of school and work for cheap.

I walk in and drop a few coins into a “Pay What You Can” jar, and proceed to a table close to the stage. The group outside walk in, and as the woman who greeted us takes off her jacket I realized it was Anna Mernieks outside the bar, and I’m kicking myself for not realizing it sooner. As I stand up to go talk to her, the opening act finishes, and I know I won’t get the opportunity until after the show as she moves towards the stage.

The audience is substantial for the size of the place, with people crowding in the doorways and any extra space they can. She hooks up her electric guitar and strums a few chords, making the place fall silent. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen. While the opening acts struggled to keep attention, Mernieks grabs it with ease. She thanks everyone for being here and Phog for hosting her, already setting up an air of professionalism that the other acts seemed to lack.

She then opens her performance with a slow song, an original called “3-Star System”. Her voice croons as she somehow encaptures a melancholy feel that I didn’t think could be possible using an electric guitar, and carries this feeling throughout her whole performance.

As she transitions into her song “Find Me”, and the next song “I Will Find You”, she begins to vary in pitch range. As she hits spectacularly high notes, I can only think that she gives Tori Amos a run for her money. Hard strumming from the guitar and enunciation at its finest, Mernieks doesn’t want us to miss anything from her performance.

Her next songs showcase her instrumental abilities. She’s constantly switching between rock and roll-esque sounds to soft and slow chords, all the while making sure her voice is at the forefront. I’m in utter shock as she transitions so seamlessly. Although some of the folks in the crowd begin to zone out, I’m completely encapsulated. As soon as she starts playing her second-last song of the night “Til’ The Morning Comes”, I know this one will be my favourite. It’s quieter than her last ones she played, so I’m very much aware of the people talking and ordering drinks around me. As I’m scribbling notes, she shocks me. Halfway through her song she gives a psychedelic sound that I didn’t even know was possible to make using an electric guitar. The audience seems to fall under a spell; they completely stop what they’re doing and solely focus on the music itself, the only thing that matters in this moment.

While the song comes to a close, I think back to seeing her outside and talking with people she may or may not know. It was a brief moment of relaxation before her performance that she carries to the stage despite so many people being here. Calm and melancholy, she weaves in and out of fast and slow paced songs, never settling into a specific sound.

She finishes her performance, and thanks everyone for coming. I hear someone at the next table say, “Wow.” I couldn’t agree more.