You might be used to coming out of concerts smelling like smoke, but if you see a show at Murky Upstairs, you'll come out smelling like coffee. The kind of coffee smell that won't come out of your clothes for DAYS. OK, so it's not a ringing endorsement, but it beats cigarettes.
Arlington bean spot Murky Coffee (3211 Wilson Blvd., Arlington) -- where slightly rude service has always been part of the charm -- has started up its Saturday night shows again (Motto: "no alcohol, drugs or drunk @&$holes allowed." Weird, that's our motto, too.) Baristas shove aside the flowered hand-me-down grandma couches in the crumbling-walled upstairs room and make room for a series of local and touring start-up bands willing to play for the low, low admission of five bucks per person.
The coffee shop closes at 9 p.m. and the first act starts at 9:15. This Saturday it's No Revolution & This Black Box opening (shared set, 40 min.); Rebecca Vs Mexico & The Black Powder (shared set, 40 minutes) and The Fordists wrapping it up with a 30-minute set.
A guy at a recent show is quoted on The Fordists' MySpace: "really bad musicians having a really good time, or really good musicians having a really good time. I can't tell."
Fair enough.
