Friday evening, Mohawk Place showcased a number of unplugged sets from some of Buffalo's best local talent, including hometown hero Dan Erickson.
Fueled by local artists, the night kicked off with Start the Fight. Since the show was made up of acoustic sets, drummers were discarded and the band was bumped down to a guitar-wielding trio.
Playing original songs such as "Don't Shoot the Messenger (Let the Messenger Shoot You)," Start the Fight also used several covers, which allowed vocalist Lou Mattiuzzo to stretch his range.
Venona soon followed suit, playing their first acoustic show. With an indie vibe, the quintet's layered vocals provided a different vibe from the pop-punk feel of other sets.
The multi-talented group, particularly Justin Gammella on vocals/piano/guitar, drew on its collective abilities to play several originals, such as "Geocentric" and "Monument," before rounding out the set with its own take on the Goo Goo Dolls' "Iris."
However, all of this was just a prelude to the main act of the night, Dan Erickson. At a transitory phase in his career, this show moved chronologically from his earliest songs to the newest.
"I wanted to do an acoustic show tonight because I felt like my band members that I had at the time didn't know any of my old songs because I didn't play anything old for them," Erickson said. "I wanted to go through a timeline with my fans, for the fans that had been following me for a few years, play some songs that I don't play ever."
Traveling back to 2007, Erickson started the set with "Where Did You Go?," originally from the album Go for the Gold, his first solo work.
"I've pretty much been in bands my whole life and after every band broke up I decided to go solo and that's pretty much how it happened," Erickson said. "I started to go solo because if I can't count on anyone else, I can count on myself."
As time wore on, Erickson incorporated his background musicians into a full band, putting his solo career on hold for the time being.
"It was really hard to have background musicians that went by my name. They wanted to be more of a part of it so I was like, you know what, these guys are dedicated, I'll let them be a part of it," Erickson said. "It didn't really work out that well because I'm back to being solo."
Yet the songs lose nothing in the transition from full band to solo. Numbers such as "Empty" and "I'll Sure as Hell Regret This" remain as powerful as before, proving their quality.
Although driven to play guitar by a love of Metallica, Erickson has taken a decidedly different avenue in his music. Combining the pop feel of Lifehouse with the heartfelt lyrical quality of The Rocket Summer, Erickson captures his listeners with acoustic melodies.
Since he is performing alone, Erickson proves technology is man's best friend. Armed with an iPod and headphones, Erickson was able to add flute instrumentals to his guitar driven songs.
Yet Erickson still proves he has an affinity for teaming up when it comes to recording music. Together with Ashley Altman, his girlfriend and collaborator, Erickson gave fans a taste of their most current project, Under the Skylight.
"People have asked me if my [earlier] song with my girlfriend, ‘Hey Beautiful,' was why we kind of branched off and [started Under the Skylight], and it's not. My girlfriend and I live together and we're both musicians so I was like, you know what, let's play a song together," Erickson said. "For the new project it was one of these things, my band was falling apart and she started playing the piano part and I started playing the guitar part and we were like, wait, this is good, let's go forward with this, so we decided to."
Closing out the night with the title track of his most recent album, A New Life for a New Year, Erickson assured fans that he isn't giving up on his solo career and listeners should look forward to good things from both projects.
Friday's show may have marked a shift in the path of Erickson's career, but it gave hometown fans a chance to listen from the start.
E-mail: arts@ubspectrum.com
