Do you enjoy a good buffet? Well I do! There’s something about being able to repeatedly fill my plate with as many different foods as possible until I am sick with pleasure, combined with paying a cheap all inclusive base price that really gets me going. I think that must be why I particularly enjoyed this show. My intense personal relationship with the smorgasbord was translated into a live musical menagerie in this one–man–band–stravaganza. First was Man Meets Bear, a local musician who can often be spotted on Monday nights at the Gallery. With his laptop, electric guitar, melodica, and microphone he told the audience that for him this show was like a ‘hamburger essay’, and as he began, his thesis was clearly one of righteousness. Melody rich songs poured forth from the stage, combined with high pitch vocals and electronic spinal chords, that laid an interesting foundation for the skillful guitar work to dance over.

During the set, songs became intricately linked together in a sort of medley that swung from genre to genre. Everything from country–esque, to dance beats, to noise–rock guitar solos spewed out from the speakers, and as Man Meets Bear’s set came to a woeful conclusion, the other two acts joined him onstage to jam into the next musician’s set. This is how Collapsing Opposites came to be standing before me, otherwise known as Ryan McCormick of They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? fame. Armed with a keyboard, saxophone, guitar, and looping/effects pedal, Ryan delighted the audience with his earnest verbose lyrics, and sweeping layered musical backdrops. Storing guitar riffs in his pedal, and then moving over to the keyboard, Collapsing Opposites was able to create a rich and heavy sound. Pairing this with unique nasal vocals that ramble on about such things as Jesus, being cool, buffalo, and even Steven Malkmus, Ryan was able to incorporate his personality and his musical talents to showcase a unique musical experience.

During his last song, Man Meets Bear, and The Rain and the Sidewalk ran back on stage, and again played us into the next set. This brings us to The Rain and the Sidewalk, who commanded attention straight away with the industrial pre–fab beats emitting from his electronica miscellaneous. Along with his heavy bass guitar riffs, and his buddy accompanying him on the turntables, he delivered a sound that could be classified as ‘neo–new wave’. I was excited, I felt like I was listening to the cure, but with worse hair. Although it was an extremely entertaining live show (complete with a death sequence, and a mysterious woman all dressed in black), songs began to sound a bit repetitive, or maybe it was just their lyrical focus on ‘worthlessness’ and ‘unworthiness’.

Either way, for a night down at Pat’s Pub, the audience more than got its money’s worth, and the metaphorical buffet left me feeling satisfied in a way that only unzipping your jeans to make way for the extra girth can. My Prediction: The year of the One Man Band.

Sofia Japan