I spent the evening of February 4th at The Deli, one of the best bars and live music venues on Campus Corner. The older I get, the more appreciation I lose for bars packed with 20-somethings, but The Deli is a horse of a different color. Although it's not a large bar and therefore is usually standing room only when there's live music, the intimate size of the space lends to the ambiance and experience of the performance.
My friend, Shawn, who's quickly becoming my music guru, introduced me to the music of That 1 Guy. Thanks! Listening to his music and watching clips on youtube are great and leaves one with the overall impression that this guy, That 1 Guy, is ultra talented and ultra quirky. But, seeing him live? Unbelievable!
He's most often called a one-man band, but after seeing him perform, that moniker is simply inadequate. He's absolutely a genius and I won't hide the fact that I left the Deli with serious thoughts of hitting the road to become a groupie. Beyond his obvious talents as a classically trained musician is The Magic Pipe.
It's hard to explain the Magic Pipe, but a quick internet search yields the details of what it is and how it came to be. I'm not going to bog this blog down with the details, but the mere fact that he thought of and built this instrument really blows my mind.I recruited a couple of my gal pals who had never heard of That 1 Guy to experience the show with me. We arrived early and planted ourselves at the front so we would have some of the best seats in the house. As we drank our beer and waited for the show to begin, we had plenty of time to look at the Magic Pipe. There's no way to explain to those who've never heard his music just what is about to happen and part of my excitement that evening was watching the amazement wash over my friends as he began to play.
In addition to the Magic Pipe, he also plays the Magic Saw and the Magic Boot. I lost count of how many times throughout his performance I turned to my friends in wonder and said, "Who would think of amplifying and playing a boot?!?" [look closely under his left arm and you'll see the Magic Boot.]
Not wanting to keep track of a camera, I used my phone to document the evening (and truth be told, my phone has an awesome camera) In addition to over 250 photos, I took a bit of video as well, but it's all raw and unedited and probably won't effectively convey the awesomeness of That 1 Guy, but I'm going to upload it anyway.Clip #1: A good overview of several techniques That 1 Guy uses on the Magic Pipe [please pardon the sound quality....it's bad in some parts but still worth watching!]
Clip #2: The Magic Saw- Somewhere Over the Rainbow.
Throughout the 45 minute show, he rarely stops moving and I'm sure it's what keeps him in shape. He interacts with his audience and several times thanked us for supporting live music. It's evident he loves what he's doing and it just adds to the overall experience when you see it on his face.
If That 1 Guy is playing anywhere near where you live, you must, must, must catch his show. You won't be disappointed I can assure you. Check out his website to see where he's currently playing. I hope he comes back to the 405 soon!
As That 1 Guy says, "Two hats are better than one!"
