As the dim light of the Wine Cellar's back room dimmed even further, a motley audience sank into the deep couches to watch one of the more unique acts in town.
It started off innocuously enough: two men shambled onstage and commenced beatboxing as a duo. Skilful and clever beatboxing, but nothing too outrageous. The sounds produced were almost flawlessly electronic-sounding, but with that disconcertingly human edge: the involuntary click of a tongue, the patter of spit on the microphone. Nothing to really hint at the journey we were all about to embark on except the promise - or threat, depending on your point of view - of some kind of audience participation soon to come.
San Franciscan Sam Rogers - One Mouth Band - has been touring and couchsurfing for some time as exactly that: a whole band, all in one mouth. Rogers provides himself with both a mellow lead vocalist and a musical accompaniment that transverses musical genres with the flick of a loop switch. With his laidback stage presence, Rogers tends to set an audience at ease with what he dubs his "100 per cent organic human music".
Acting as counterpart is Melbourne-born musician and funnyman Mal Webb, adding comedy and tension to Rogers' melodious boots'n'cats-ing. Webb tends to use more tricks, more body parts, and generally more effervescent craziness in his musical numbers, including his impressive "sideways yodelling".
It's rare to attend a gig where there is quite literally never a dull moment. This was achieved through a variety of simple, but very clever methods. Rogers and Webb's "tagging in" system meant the two took turns on stage, interspersed with collaborations and duets. They kept it fresh through the sheer number of musical styles on display, from Rogers' wonderful 'Foxy Lady' cover to Webb's eerily delightful original number 'Morning Song' (complete with an entire dawn chorus and an array of death-defying vocal gymnastics). It was a dynamic that worked, and you could tell the two were enjoying themselves.
