Hartford’s Amphibious Man, a jammy, grungy, surf rock band with a vaguely Spanish sound, opened its set at Cafe Nine last Thursday with their tidal wave of a single, “Laureline.” (The video stands as a DIY triumph.) As the song wound down, singer and guitarist Jason Principi turned around and slowly pressed his heel onto one of the many pedals that filled his effects briefcase. It let the audience catch a glimpse of Principi’s guitar strap, thoroughly duct-taped to his Stratocaster.
Throughout the set Principi’s vocals were barely audible. Less chill bands might hold up the show to correct their levels, but The Amphibious Man thrives with its vocals at the cusp of intelligibility, the singing on the band’s album Witch Hips is barely louder.
The Amphibious Man has two of everything: singers (Principi and Jacki Hopkins); bassists (Hopkins and Jake Downey; guitarists (Principi and Mike Myrbeck); and drummers (Shaun Burns and Adam Heege). The resulting fullness of their sound, coupled with the green underglow from stage lights, made the band the kind of act the Wicked Witch of the West might headbang to.
On Thursday, though, heads of all kinds — hip-hop heads, dead, and indie — gathered at this cross-genre show. Two local rappers, Chef the Chef and Mooncha, opened for The Amphibious Man. Chef, currently a student at SCSU, delivered a memorable performance, closing his set by freestyling about Dragon Ball Z. Mooncha, another SCSU rapper, walked through the crowd for five minutes of stand-up while Cafe Nine worked out a few technical difficulties. As soon as her self-produced beats boomed through the PA, she transformed into a rhyming ball of energy.
Happily sandwiched between the two rappers’ sets, Jon Stone — who had organized the evening — performed folk originals as Clemm Planetts & The Last People at the Bar.
“I actually like this kid,” announced one of the hip-hop fans seated near the stage.
