Magnificent Seven, Montana Actors Theatre-Great Falls, Feb. 2

I'm finally on the mend after nearly two days of being sick but if you've been wondering where my critique of the Magnificent Seven show has been, it's been stuck in my flu-stricken fingers.

But, anyhow, onto my thoughts of the show. 

Saturday's Magnificent Seven show at MAT-Great Falls featured six acts in front of a large collection of artwork on a small stage surrounded by people on three sides. 

I like the format mostly. I think the more popular this thing gets, the more creative the folks there at the theater are going to have fitting everyone in. 

It worked on Saturday, but part of me kept wondering what they'd do if an influx of people came later. 

I wouldn't say that was a problem for Saturday, but in the future it may be.

But, onto this night's entertainment. 

The performers were as follows -- Dan Dubuque of Polson, Jeff Scolley with Joe Ryan on guitar, Ryan Johnson, Melanie Pool Hauer and Joe Ryan, Risa Alvarez fire eating/fire dancing and the Coexistence Band minus their lead singer from Helena.

Each of the performers, at least the ones I've watched before, gave some of their best shows I've seen from them. That doesn't mean they were without problems, except for the performance by one Melanie, which was perfect in every way from a singer who most definitely did not bribe me to write that. Kidding. 

The show started with a bang with Mr. Dubuque performing his slide guitar.

 You really had to sit in amazement at the talent he has with his instruments. He also played a South American ukulele of some kind for a few songs, but the real point of wonder was his work on the slide. 

Ryan Johnson at MAT-Great Falls' Magnificent Seven

I particularly enjoyed his rendition of Tool's "46&2" and Rage Against the Machine's "Killing in the Name." Both pieces put me in a trance of amazement. 

My critique of Dan's performance is a bit strange even to me, but I thought it went on a bit too long. 

I kept waiting for Tyson (Habein) or Joe (Ryan) to come bring the next performer on stage. 

It's strange because one, the guy was an incredible performer and two, he was playing an instrument I really enjoy hearing. 

I think his problem came in the fact that he was just playing his instrument. It got a bit stagnant to me. I would have loved to hear him performing with someone singing along with him or perhaps if someone had a drum, or some other element to mix it up. 

I think if anything Mr. Dubuque shows how hard it is to keep the audience's attention with just one person playing an instrument. It can be done when you have insane talent like he does, but even then, for me, at least, I started to feel a bit complacent. 

After Dan's set, Jeff Scolley took the stage with Joe Ryan and read some of his favorite recent poems. He and Joe have this cool symbiotic thing going where whatever Jeff is reading, Joe can somehow make it sound better with his guitar playing in the background. Even the fourth poem, which Jeff read without preparing beforehand, Joe seemed to find the right groove for. 

Jeff is a natural performer, plain and simple. He loves reading his poetry and expressing his thoughts on stage. The words he uses, the phrases he delivers, all leave a bit of a lasting impression on you. 

Art from Rachel Kaiser at Saturday's Magnificent Seven

Jeff also mentioned his new spoken-word album he's working on at Michael Gilboe's recording studio. I look forward to hearing how the progress is coming on that. 

 Perhaps my only critique of Jeff's performance was that I've heard at least one of the poems before delivered in a similar way. 

I didn't tire of hearing it, though. I think mostly because you believe what Jeff is saying when he's speaking it, particularly in the poem about his sister. He talks about raising her and how she means the world to him. That's an admirable sentiment and even if I've heard him recite those words at least two or three times before, the feeling still seems fresh. 

Perhaps it might be nice to see Jeff take some more risks in his poetry and try things he's never done before. I say "perhaps" because he knows what works for him. The saying goes if it ain't broke don't fix it. 

At the same time, though, I'd kind of like to see how he'd do at something out of his comfort zone. Because he's such a strong performer, I think it'd be interesting to see how he'd react to something out of left field.

I didn't expect him to do something unproven on Saturday, though, as it wasn't that kind of show. He reached his goal for the night and there's really not much bad you can say about what he did. 

After Jeff came Ryan Johnson who did a mix of covers and original songs on his guitar. 

Listening to Ryan and I'm always impressed with his range of vocals. I always tell him how I enjoy his songs when I see him, so I must really enjoy hearing him play. His original songs were great on Saturday, and his rendition of "Bennie and the Jets" really brought the house down. It was fun and upbeat. Elton John would've been proud. 

My main critique with Ryan's set was that several songs didn't appear to have endings. The songs would go on just fine until the end and then they would just stop. 

Several times people weren't sure if the song was over or if they were supposed to applaud yet. 

It's just a small thing and a simple one to solve. Ryan's got one of the stronger musical packages both in his performing and writing and it was nice to see him in the mix. 

Risa Alvarez at MAT-Great Falls' Magnificent Seven

Ryan's performance was followed by Melanie Pool Hauer and Joe Ryan. Since Melanie bribed me to just say nice things, I guess I'll have to or I might have to give her money back.

Honestly, I thought she did a great job. Like Lana, my girlfriend, said afterward, she and Joe are reaching an intriguing point in their musical development. They're either getting to the point where they just explode, or it fizzles and dies. Their potential for great things seems to be within grasp. That's really exciting to see. 

If I could find one fault with their performance was that the hip hop song didn't really do it for me. Melanie can rap, something I did not know beforehand, but to me I kept thinking about the time Madonna tried to rap. Just because you can do something doesn't mean you always should.

You could say it was a fun distraction, but it seemed to stick out from the rest of the set. Guess I'll be giving Melanie her money back that she never gave me, after all. Oh well. 

After a brief excursion outside to watch the fire-dancer/fire eater, which I didn't get to see because it was too cold for me to stand out there very long, the reggae band Coexistence from Helena capped off the night. 

It would have been nice if their lead singer, Carli Karlson, could have made it to the show, but I felt the guys did a stellar job in her absence. 

The group played some reggae covers and some original tunes and it was fun to hear how the saxophone meshed in with the rest of the more-traditional instruments. Like I told Lana while we were listening to them, it's not every day you hear a band around here play with a saxophone. 

The group played mostly some upbeat songs and really played well with the atmosphere of the evening.

Because they are a five piece, or four piece on Saturday, band, they had to squeeze onto the stage on the very back of the theater. 

Not an ideal setup, maybe, but they made it work. Even if you were seated in the very front of the room you could hear them just fine. 

Jeff Scolley reads poetry at the Magnificent Seven

Overall, I think my main critiques are things that can be ironed out in future shows. Like I said at the top, each of the acts gave great performances and you never felt like you weren't seeing the performers give it their all. 

Also, it would be nice if they could find a way to accept credit for drinks. I would have loved to have gotten a few drinks but didn't have any cash. Hopefully they'll get a way to make that happen in the future. 

Finally, I liked the way Joe and Tyson used the door prizes to keep the action on stage moving and let for some small break between acts. 

I will be interested in seeing next month's lineup and if there are more out-of-town artists who try out to perform. It's a great way to discover some new performers and to see ones you might have seen before raise the bar to new levels. 

Both Lana and I enjoyed ourselves and it sounded like  many others who attended did too. I recommend checking out the next one on March 2.

Photos courtesy of Tyson and Sara Habein. Video courtesy of Gabriel Vasichek.