That 1 Guy @ The Corner,Melbourne (01/02/2008)

Sat 9th Feb, 2008 in Gig Reviews

Mike Silverman, aka That 1 Guy, is one of the most creative and original acts on today’s music scene and upon witnessing his intense, funk driven power it’s not hard to see why. His skills are as unique as they come, his equipment self made and unlike any conventional instrumentation and despite initial scepticism from some, That 1 Guy is much more than an obscure novelty act or sideshow; he’s a genuine entertainer with the ability to envelope an audience and have them dancing, howling and singing along. Hailing from California, That 1 Guy has developed somewhat of a liking for down under and returned to tour our shores only one month after his marvellous spot at Pyramid for an East Coast tour.

Silverman’s self made “Magic Pipe” has to be seen to be believed. This oddity is constructed out of pipes, bolts and lots of duct tape and appears to work on the seemingly simple notion of plucking a string with one finger whilst holding a note with the other. However, various pipe movement effects along with effects buttons built all over ensure there is nothing simple about this pipe. Its back section acts as guitar, its front as bass and pedals connect to cow bells and other percussion to create a standing one man band. Playing the pipe with a cello bow or drumstick, along with intermissions of snare drum complete Silverman’s set up.

From the moment he arrived on stage, Silverman presented himself as an honestly friendly musician with his thanks and gigantic smiles. His jokes were met with quirky effects on the pipe and contrasted with the exotically intense introduction that ensued. Because his instrumentation is so different it is hard to pinpoint a genre to That 1 Guy, though the general funk or rock vibes that accompany most of his tracks were nowhere to be seen amongst the heavy opener that sounded almost like rave music, and had a sea of heads bobbing around the front of the Corner. Soon enough the heavy stuff was out of the way and the bright, comical material came forth.

Drawing largely from his latest album The Moon Is Disgusting, Silverman treated the crowd to themed tracks about the moon, fruit and “that song” about a butt. Creative word play and humour mixed together in a rhyming funk way to have the crowd laughing as much as dancing. – œButtmachine’ was the first of these songs and was by far a lyrical highlight – “Cracked like a bell but don’t mean that it rings/And just cause it’s shiny don’t mean that it’s clean” – and had those new to That 1 Guy’s material asking what on earth this hatted American was all about, though bemused nonetheless.

Whilst the pipe is strange enough as it is, Silverman’s antics reached beyond his primary contraption as he pulled out a cowboy boot, donned with more electronic/percussive effects and proceeded to play a track with it hitched under his arm. More amusing was when he produced a metre long, blunted hacksaw and proceeded to plug it into an amplifier and play it with his bow. The electronic wobble board that eventuated from the saw added more of a warped angle to the set and led appropriately into more rave-like jamming from the pipe. A credit card was produced for the following jam and Silverman’s own twisted notes suddenly launched into a rendition of Black Sabbath ala That 1 Guy; a choice that was met with roars of approval.

Despite looking like a vacuum cleaner, the pipe became a real spectacle during the closing instrumental jam as Silverman connected it to a smoke machine. As smoke billowed from the top of the instrument, Silverman had punters bobbing around one more time before he casually began simplistic elevator music to back his concluding thanks. Considering That 1 Guy admits to loving Australia there’s no doubt his quirky sound will return in the near future. The sheer bizarreness and originality of his act should be enough to attract many more in the shows to come.

Photos courtesy of Anthony Smith.