Rise Of The Machines

On a snowy Saturday night, I made my way to see some live music at the Garrison. Little did I know that since Jenny Omnichord was stuck in Guelph, the first act was pushed back past 10:30 pm. Finally, Alphabot! came on. A young singer with a strong voice, he was a one-man band. Playing all the instruments: synthesizer, drum machine, violin, and guitar, he laid down some danceable loops. In fact, by the end, he had the sparse crowd up and grooving. But even better, he had various props on the stage including an old TV looping over TV samples, blinking robot heads made from cardboard, and even a lighted apartment building. Best of all, his songs were about robots and other weird topics. It's one of the most enjoyable act I've seen lately.

The only thing weirder than Alphabot! was watching a late 40s/early 50s man making out with an early 20s girl after the set. Before the tonsil hockey match got going, I thought it was a dad chaperoning his daughter to a "dive" bar.

The second act, Spookey Ruben, took forever to start. I think the management realized the crowd wasn't there tonight and just let things slide. There's no excuse for letting a 3-piece band take over 30 min to set up. Unfortunately, it wasn't worth it. There's nothing wrong with the band led by a Bob Hoskins look-a-like. They are technically capable but they just sound like 80s Genesis or Level 42 with the slap bass, guitar, and rock beat. I had more fun watching his hammy short movies being shown on a side wall.

I would have stayed for the head-liner, Wax Mannequin, but by the time Spooky Ruben finished it was already past 12:30 am. Time to head home. I did pick up his recent CD called Saxon. It would have been nice to hear him live because the album contains a number of  interesting melancholic tunes with very dense lyrics and imagery.