On Friday night, The City on Film played at the Illini Union to a rowdy crowd of Bob Nann-ites. Unfortunately, the blizzard seemed to have kept a lot of people from coming out to the show, but it was still a great time. If you are unfamiliar with The City on Film, it is the stage name for ex-Braid and Hey Mercedes frontman Bob Nanna. While the new material is a lot different from his previous work, there is no mistaking Nanna’s voice and songwriting style.
Ryan Lindsey was the opening act, and I found his instrument-hopping and use of electronic gadgetry to be highly entertaining. Over the course of his set, he played electric guitar, bass, and keys, often with the help of some drum samples and loop effects. The only thing he was missing was a pair of cymbals between his knees. -Check out his Myspace.
The City on Film set was about as intimate as any of us could have asked for without there being penetration. It was even more stripped-down than the last time I had seen Nanna play - this time just Bob and an acoustic guitar. He played a solid forty-five minutes of City on Film stuff, with some of the highlights being “Secret Santa Cruz” and “I’d Rather Be Wine Drunk.” As he was starting to put his guitar away (after the house music began playing) someone called out for another song. Nanna sort of smiled and then gave us another three, the whole time apologizing for how out of practice he was. It was really classy and just showed what a down-to-earth guy Nanna is.
While I already knew that Nanna was an incredibly talented songwriter, I did not know that he had so much history here in Urbana-Champaign. He was actually an undergrad student here at the U of I back in the early days of Braid. The band even did some work with Parasol and Polyvinyl records. I had a chance to talk to him after the show and also learned that he’s a Murphy’s man. So there you have it - he’s good people. He said he’d be coming back through within the next few months, so those of you that missed out will have another chance to see this guy play. Some of today’s music would surely not exist if it were not for Bob Nanna - the man is an indie legend. Hear for yourself.
Braid- Killing a Camera
Hey Mercedes- A List Actress
Matt Klomparens: Lend me some sugar, I AM your neighbor.
Comments
Sarah (Sarah) says:
(Posted February 27th, 2008 at 7:39 pm)
Also, remember the starry eyed look on Patches’ face? It was adorable.
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the217
Buzz Magazine
Matt Klomparens
Lend me some sugar, I AM your neighbor.
Sarah (Sarah) says:
(Posted February 27th, 2008 at 7:38 pm)
The few, the proud, the Nanna disciples.