Kelly Obrian’s: The Study of a One Man Band

There is something that is safe and funny about a one man band.. a kind of odd recollection that we all have..A man with a french horn under his armpit, a pair of cymbals between his knees, perhaps a harmonica raised up to his greasy handlebar J mustache, telling jokes and making fun of the crowd under the cover of an over sized top hat. Warm memory’s, funny memory’s of..A Novelty act.

Shane Ocell is sitting on an ice cooler behind his drum kit, his electric guitar sitting in his lap, a single sunn amplifier sits to his right..The Crowd is loud tonight and a handful of troublemakers have just been escorted out of the bar. A voice comes on stage and I hear ‘ check..check. right monitor’ Shane pounds his drums accordingly and heads begin turning toward the stage. The roar of the chatty crowd becomes a murmur and anticipation builds for the next wave of sound checking.

Tonight the crowd have no idea what to expect.. They know what a one man band looks like..they have all seen one in the old movies.. a funny guy..a novelty act but, the thundering sound check they have just been witness to was not a Disney friendly one man band..

Shane still hasn’t left his drum kit and it has been minutes after the sound check has ended.The whole crowd is frozen, looking to the stage.. their faces are still , it is deathly quiet. His guitar roars of gritty feedback and re verb rattles the single snare at his feet.. He pulls on one of the three glasses sitting at his side and surveys the room.. What is about to happen is unknown.. and it’s coming fast..

Via Vengeance is a one man band. There are no Loop pedals, no harmonicas or french horns, no handlebar mustache.The days of clangy knee cymbals have made way for hard melodic guitar chords. Slow irrevocable lyrics and precision drumming. This is sludgy stoner rock fueled by pain, anger and amplified electricity.

After 30 minutes the Via Vengeance set is finished, the bar springs back to life. Beer bottles clank and the buzz hounds begin to swill yet again. What was once safe is now changed, it feels raw and exhilarating.

Raw because this novelty act has smashed our perception of the one man band, the childhood memory of a man with horn under one arm, a over sized bass drum strapped to his chest and two cymbals tied to both knees is gone. Exhilarating because as a group we all agreed that what we just witnessed first hand was very real. It was like getting punched in the face with a handful of perspective.. and we are all eager for more.