A 21st Century Music Experience

It was with this mindset that I went to a concert last Saturday night The performer I saw could not have existed in the 20th century He was the first truly 21st century musician and entertainer I have ever seenMy son Christopher has been raving about That1Guy for three years ever since he saw him for the first of three times in Lawrence Kansas For those of you unfamiliar with Lawrence it is the place between Madison WI and Austin TX that is a hotbed of new and alternative music and has been so since the 1960s so cutting edge or wannabe cutting edge musicians have often played there early in their careers I asked Christopher to let me know if That1Guy ever came to Chicago so that we could go see him togetherWell last Friday as I was heading to an airport from yet another speech I got a text from my son saying That1Guy was playing at a local Chicago club I texted back that I wanted to go and then on Saturday night my 23 year old son his best friend my 16 year old step son his best friend my wife and I got to the small club early and stood up right at the front of the stage The musical experience that occurred over the next two hours was not only one of the most enjoyable I can remember it was for a small club experience completely of this century All of us across the obvious demographics absolutely loved the experience That in itself is rareI must state right away that the YouTube videos you might have already clicked on do not do justice to That1Guyamp8217s performance It was fun exciting astounding funny and completely unique He has created a amp8220magic pipeamp8221 that he plays as an upright base a guitar a cello and a drum set Utilizing computer technology he creates sounds that at times sounded like a complete band utilizing three different foot pedals to provide beautiful melodies funkadelic dance music heavy metal riffs and hilarious sound affectsThe amp8220magic pipeamp8221 and That1Guyamp8217s playing of it was completely futuristic and danceable at the same time If Stanley Kubrick gave us a glimpse of the future in the late 1960s and early 1970s with 2001 A Space Odysseyamp8221 and A Clockwork Orange then That1Guy provided all in the room with a look ahead at the future of musical performance I kept thinking amp8220Why is this guy not a huge staramp8221 He has so much more talent and originality than many groups todayThink about it The music most of us listen to amp8211 aside from classical music amp8211 is from the 20th century Be it the rock model of guitars a keyboard and drums a more stripped down version of that which is blues or the jazz model of drums bass horns and guitar Rock Jazz and Blues are all 20th century music forms For those of you steeped into the rock idiom I would describe That1Guy as the Millennial generationamp8217s Frank Zappa I have hundreds and hundreds of amp8220albumsamp8221 from these three music forms on my iPod and listen to them a lot So if all of these beloved music categories are from the 20th century what will be created in this new 21st centuryThat1Guy perhaps is an early century signpost as to what lies aheadOh by the way in a sequence that was mind altering he played amp8220Somewhere Over the Rainbowamp8221 on an electrified saw with a cello bow segued into a percussive dance club piece using an electrified cowboy boot as a congobongo drum and then let rip a unique version of Black Sabbathamp8217s amp8220Iron Manamp8221 using the amp8220magic pipeamp8221 To say the crowd went wild is an understatement He also used hand held lasers optical card tricks and created many humorous moments with sound effectsForty years ago when walking out of Stones Doors Hendrix Zeppelin and Dead concerts I felt charged up and living in a new landscape that was exciting and full of potential I felt that same way for the first time in a long time when walking out of this my first 21st century concert experienceDavid Houle is a futurist strategist and speaker He has always been slightly ahead the curve Houle spent more than 20 years in media and entertainment Most recently David is a featured contributor to Oprahcom Check is out here wwwoprahcomdavidhoule David can be contacted at DavidDavidHoulecomRead all Davidamp8217s MediaBizBloggers commentaries at David Houle MediaBizBloggersFollow our Twitter updates MediaBizBlogger

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A 21st Century Music Experience

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David Houle

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