Magic was in the air when I arrived at Transit Bar to see That 1 Guy play his mystical instrument. Hailing from the States and dressed all in black with two felt bowler-hats planted firmly on his head, it would fair to say that he looked a little curious. Although his giant grin showed his gentle personality, he even mingled with the crowd well before his support act Mr. Percival took the stage.
Mr. Percival sat on a stool, armed only with two microphones and a looping machine, and began to build songs using only his voice. He beatboxed the drums, then hummed the guitars and finally sung the lyrics, making a very impressive live performance. He sang a beautiful cover of High and Dry and a fun rendition of Electric Avenue, which got some of the crowd up and dancing.
The real dancing started when That 1 guy, whose real name is Mike Silverman started playing. On stage with his giant harp-shaped metal pipe, which he built himself out of plumbing supplies, you wondered how it could possibly produce music. If you looked closely you could see some strings running down the length of the pipe, which enabled That 1 Guy to pluck, strum, drum and even draw a violin bow across it to make a myriad of different sounds with the help of a macbook pro hidden behind the speakers.
He created feel-good beats with harder guitar like melodies, which stirred the crowd into shameless bopping and grinding. His quick rhyming lyrics showed a big Dr. Seuss influence with one of his songs called The moon is disgusting (it’s made out of cheese).
His stage presence was outstanding, keeping high energy and a big smile for the whole 90-minute set. He also entertained the audience with some slick magic tricks during show whilst still singing. He made cards disappear and then reappear from an audience member’s hand, and vomited a stack of cards. He even used a duck sock-puppet to help illustrate a duck quack in one of his songs.
Towards the end of the set a leather cowboy boot appeared which he plugged a cord into and started playing that instead of the pipes. A puzzled look came across the audience with everyone wondering how it worked, but at the same time not caring because it sounded so good.
It was certainly a fun night, packed with surprises and magic, but mostly displayed the musical talent that these two men have to offer.
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