DC ROCK CLUB
Long live rock, I need it every night

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Hocus Focus

Two Man Gentlemen Band - Focus Music @ Church of the Resurrection, Alexandria, Virginia 11/8/09

A good friend of mine went to elementary school in New Hampshire with 1/2 of the Two Man Gentlemen Band. When he learned that his long time friend would be playing in the DC area, he called me up to invite me along. I asked him where in Alexandria the show was. "Some place called 'Focus?'," he said. Turns out Focus Music is all about folk and acoustic performances. According to their website:

In addition to supporting the local folk music performing community, Focus presents concerts at two area locations that feature top-quality local and nationally touring performers of acoustic American, International, traditional and contemporary folk music.

The Two Man Gentlemen Band is like the best parts of the Smothers Brothers, Prairie Home Companion, and other seemingly innocuous (and maligned) musical acts/programs. Before you roll your eyes, I said "best parts." Seeing their video clips doesn't do them justice. These guys are clever and solid musicians, albeit slightly hokey. They especially appeal to the math/history/science dork, which is 89% of DC. And they manage to sell out shows in their home town of NYC on a regular basis. Trouble is, they were booked for Focus, which in Alexandria, is a lowly community room with folding chairs in a church off of I-395. Refreshments for this gig were courtesy of a church bake sale, everything for a dollar (choice of can of soda, two-cookie platter, or tiny brownie). Thankfully we made it on the guest list, otherwise the tickets were $18. Eighteen dollars. Wow. Ballz.



The TMGB shtick consists of lots of double entendre, drug use, and boozing, which made the whole scene all the more uncomfortable with blue-haired old ladies and breast-feeding moms in attendance. Here's a peek into what we saw:


The tune above isn't all that flattering for the band, but you get an idea of the place they found themselves. Better luck next time.

2 comments:

Caroline said...

We need more breast-feeding moms at shows.

Potsy said...

why stop there?