[Gunnison,
CO]: It was possibly the longest sound check ever, and ElPrimoHaole and
Rockboy, in particular, were getting fractious. You would have thought they
were Metallica (should Metallica ever play a bar… in a town of 5,000 … and manage
all their own sound equipment) – eliciting sound check advice from the crowd,
positioning the band members throughout the crowd to verify the advice, and
then doing it all over again. Once the whole town was packed into the bar, and
TakeThatLife was giving girls who bumped her seat hard looks, the music finally
started. And he was a single man on a barstool. Alex Nugent had a lovely voice
and was dressed very nicely, but after all the build-up, the crowd (or our
crowd) was somewhat let down. Our table decided he was Ryan Gosling in what
Alex Keaton would wear in the 2000s. He did polished soulful singer/songwriter
(i.e., adult contemporary) covers of popular songs. I was only offended by the
grocery store rendition of “American Girl.” Two hours after said start time,
Feed the Bear took the stage. Rumor had it that the band was an “indie rock”
band – I think it’s a bit of a stretch to say the band departs That Far from
Gunnison’s pet sounds—jam, reggae, bluegrass (case in point: their mike stand
was a hockey stick) —but I liked what they did with their sound very much. They
were a drummer, two guitarists/vocalists, another vocalist, a bassist, and a
saxophonist. Their sound was some mix of O.A.R., Van Morrison, prog pop, Jack
Johnson, island music, Spanish guitar, Steely Dan… I particularly enjoyed the
contributions of the saxophonist, who turns out is not a regular member of the
band. Their sound is inconsistent, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but
once they solidify their sound so they can make a name for themselves, I hope
they follow the prog road, because I like prog pop a lot. “Feed the Bear”
defined: “The act of throwing in an enormous lip or "pich" of chewing
tobacco, specifically Kodiak brand.”
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