Show Recap: Single Player, Nathan Chistensen, Jon Tracey, & more!
Saturday afternoon, I walked to God's House listening to American Football and stepped on leaves to make crunchy noises. There were two things on my mind as I walked: 1. the wind has begun to cast its cold smarts upon my face, and 2. I wonder what a house show in Chambana is like...The first thing I did upon arriving was, of course, buying a snazzy new Pizza.FM t-shirt. I'll be sporting it around in the imminent future in hopes of proliferating Pizza Haute Couture™. As an expert in food-fashion, I highly suggest purchasing one as soon as possible in order to escalate to or remain at the cusp of this season's (and every forthcoming one's) latest trend.As a newbie in the music scene here in corn world, I was unsure of what to expect from a house show in this area. The last house show I went to in Chicago was, well, fantastic. Let's just say it featured Sean Bonnette of Andrew Jackson Jihad... However, I'd be a fool to expect Chicago of Champaign, so I decided to walk in with a blank slate. The following is my account of how I had a great musically-inclined epiphany.
Chrissy Ruiz
Chrissy began the afternoon's festivities ukelele in hand. I was most perplexed by the fact that she does not have a Bandcamp or anything of the sort. Her quiet, sweet songs would set the perfect tone for the rest of the day. The fast, shy, staccato strumming was delicate and euphonious and complemented by her soft voice, and she reminded me why I love acoustic shows so much: the atmosphere is personal and poetic. I would most definitely buy her music if I could.
Kevin Conroy
The first few songs of his set were "slow and sentimental," as he put it, but they quickly gained pace and gave rise to louder, more impassioned "rock" songs. The medley of different melodies in his every song was nothing short of amazing. Kevin and his band recently released Happy Faces Sad Hearts, which I highly recommend and which can be found here. At this point in the show, I was ecstatic because I realized the music scene here in Chambana is rich with talent. In transitioning through songs, Kevin mentioned that he believes that the happiest moments in one's life are the moments which are commonplace but still exhibit great amounts of happiness, moments like being at a house show in the Midwest with a group of friends. I think that, after today, I subscribe to this philosophy.
Jon Tracey
Next up was Jon Tracey! Sharing songs from his senior year of high school to songs written within the past two weeks, he picked up the pace and shared anecdotes about being forbidden from playing at his (high school) graduation. There were laughs and then there were more serious moments when songs that were applicable to post-high school sentiments were relevant to post-college. Jon's Bandcamp is right over here, and he will not disappoint.
Nathan Christensen
Nathan Christensen hails from Chicago and brought with him everything we love about folk: emotionally charged lyrics and nostalgic guitar. His set was colorful with happiness, melancholy, and everything in between. Should you feel that your life is lacking in good folk jams, might I suggest you click here? I can confidentially say that Pizza drew some incredibly talented people to play.
Single Player
To further attest to my claim that Chambana is anything but bereft of talent, look no further than the following sentences. While Single Player showed up slightly late due to the whole having-a-job thing some adults partake in, they compensated by playing their jam-worthy lo-fi midwestern rock music for which they are so lauded. In case that wasn't enough, the microphone died because I guess it just couldn't handle the great vibes being sung into it. That is literally how good they were. The rest of the set was significantly quieter, but it highlighted the lead singer's well-crafted voice and the importance of subtle cymbals.
All in all, it was a fantastic show in its own right. I need not compare it to Chicago because Chambana has a taste of its own. I look forward to hearing more from our local and not-so-local artists playing here in town. If there's one thing of which I am sure, it's that there is a bright future for the music scene, and I would think that as long as there is a scene to be covered, Pizza will be there to do it.