Two Solitudes: Friday, Sept. 10. The Bryan Park Tot Lot.

I knew this was going to be one of my favorite shows! We arrived in Bloomington just before the show at 5 pm and took a stroll around Bryan Park. The Tot Lot was occupied by tots and their picnicking guardians. On the hill above the Tot Lot resides a collection of creepy abstract brown structures called the FitCore, and that’s where we settled down for the show. This particular lot seems to be intended for exercise, not play. Posted signs instruct in how to utilize the FitCore.

Kray brought some fruit and snacks, which we ate together while we waited for the bands and guests to arrive. The full bill was Ember Schrag, Normanoak, Vollmar, Bobby Bils, Polaroid, Hanz Bronze and Sir Deja Doog.

Sir Deja Doog played first, six songs from his recent recording An Impossible Darkness. The songs were all about hell, punctuated by terrifying imagery and wails of inhuman suffering. I thought he was great.

Next was Hanz Bronze, playing much more cheerful material, including one song that was a character study of PacMan.

Polaroid’s music was dark, primitive and socially conscious.

Bobby Bils performed “acoustic comedy” from a tree. His performance kept the audience guessing as he played clips from green speakers tied to various branches. He kept changing his clothes and quietly jumping around in the tree. The set ended when Bobby donned a blue dress and descended from the tree, then smashed his face into a paper plate full of whipped topping.

Vollmar’s songs were performed very quietly and were and very, very good. My favorite was a stark and sad breakup song that started with the line “Please move out of here.”

I played next, and then as the sun set, Normanoak closed out the show. He plays a classical guitar with skilled gusto and sings wordy, brilliant and amusing songs. He stood in the light from street lamp and danced around as he played.

Thanks to Kray for setting up awesome shows! Seems like a fun scene, great people. They used to meet weekly in that same park for a songwriter in the round group called Minstrel Cycle, and then every Thursday for a Public Drone.

After the show the city was hosting a movie night on the adjacent hill. They were showing Labyrinth. We later wished we had stayed for the movie, but we were starving and so we headed downtown. After a fruitless search for the Darko Taco truck we’d been told about, we ended up at Greek’s Pizza. Here’s Bryan at the restaurant; it was empty except for us.