Bob Log III
Dani Dorchin
Uzi Ramirez
Noga Erez
Before turning up to Pasaz tonight for the One Man Band festival, I was pretty tired after band rehearsal and wasn't too sure if I wanted to pay ₪100 ($26/£16) to go to this, but finally decided that for crazy one man blues band Bob Log III alone it should be well worth it. I did not know who the rest of the line up were. All I knew is that it's all one man band stuff.
Noga Erez
First act of the night is a young woman by the name of Noga Erez. Armed with a laptop, keyboard, synthesizer and a drum machine/sequencer, Noga plays beautiful and, most of the time, funky electro. Right from the first song, with its "Hear me no-one, see me no-one...I'm off the radar" chorus, I was impressed by Noga's use of looping by harmonising her own vocals and keyboard parts. Noga has a great vocal range which can go from being Imogen Heap sweet to Bjork rage (although not as crazy). She didn't really interact that much with the crowd which would have been nice. I mean, I had to check with someone who she was. Was everyone there just expected to know her? Well...from now one, hopefully they will. I found her set enjoyable to watch and I think she will be a great performer if she just put a little bit more energy and interaction into her performance.
4/5
Uzi Ramirez
Uzi Ramirez is apparently quite well known and almost legendary in Israel's alternative scene, having been involved in The Ramirez Brothers and even, at one stage, Boom Pam. I guess I haven't been here long enough or have not been floating around the right "scenes" to have heard of him until now. I mistook him at first for Bog Log's roadie/techie, as he was testing what looked like a very similar set up to what I have known Bob Log to use, only kick drum and hi-hat (plus tambourine). Looking like an even hairier version of Frank from 30 Rock, Uzi comes on stage and delivers a variety of blues/rock songs, sometimes more in the vein of The Black Keys, sometimes Bob Dylan-esque. Uzi also managed a one man Wipeout and a hint of bluegrass here and there. To be honest, a lot of the songs sound like stuff I may have heard before. Still good, just nothing out of the ordinary.
3/5
Dani Dorchin
Dani is another guitar playing, foot drumming act. However, he has more of a full set up, with kick, snare (with pedal), tom-tom (with pedal), hi-hat, cowbell and crash as well as his guitar and a harmonica. He uses heal-toe motion to play all parts of the kit with only his two feet. He also manages to strike either the cowbell or the crash with the metal slide on his finger in-between guitar strokes. That is pretty impressive in my book. Setting in place the tone for the rest of the night, Dani plays heavy riffing blues. Some tracks were really up beat and really got people dancing. Highlight of his act was when he put the guitar down and just played with his harmonica. This may be because drums and harmonicas are two of my favourite instruments, but the track itself was also very fun and he plays the harmonica really well. He had another song which sounded almost exactly like House of the Rising Sun. I just can't tell if that was intentional, a funny coincidence or lazy writing. Either way, Dani is a great musician and his set was a joy to watch.
3.5/5
Bob Log III
I heard about Bob Log III over 10 years ago. I think I may have seen his name around London on posters or read about him in magazines at first, but there was this Hungarian (I think) guy at college who was really into him and talked about going to his show. Over the years, I've had other friends see him live and loved him, but I was still never yet to see him. UNTIL NOW!
What can I say about Bob Log III? The guy performs wearing a flashy jumpsuit, a fighter pilot's helmet (some people say it's a bike helmet but I'm pretty sure it's a pilot's helmet), a drum machine, a kick drum, a crash cymbal on the floor with a tambourine on and his guitar. His helmet has some sort old fashioned telephone (that might be part of the original helmet and I'm just stupid) attached to his helmet which acts a built-in microphone. On top of his bizarre stage image and persona, Bob plays finger bouncing blues. No slow jams at all in Bob's repertoire. With titles like Boob Scotch and S*** on My Leg, Bob Log III is pure harmless fun. From where I was standing, it was hard to make out what he was saying in any of the songs. Saying that, because of the megaphone-like tone of his in-built mic, the lyrics are hard to pick out even on some of his recordings. To be honest, he could have instrumental only tracks with no lyrics at all for all I care. Every single song had everybody dancing. String on a Stick especially has an almost rave vibe.
One of my favourite things about Bob Log, and what I look for in a great performer, is his crowd interaction. Not only does Bob talk to us and is hilarious with the random stuff he says, he hands out balloons and asks us to blow them up and put them on stage. While playing one of his songs, he stamps on the balloons and uses the popping as an extra percussive sound. Not only is there this crowd participation, but he gets 2 girls to come on stage and sit on his legs during S*** on My Leg (one of the girls was called Or and is one of the most beautiful women I've seen. Just putting that out there) and he gets everyone clapping along and at one point carrying him in his yellow dingy. I found that his foot control on the kick and crash isn't always in great timing, but I don't think it really matters. This whole performance was just one massive party and I was glad to be there.
5/5
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