OneLineDrawing at the Troubadour

8.4.00

Warning: This review will be completely and totally biased, predisposed, unfair, and partial. Now that we have that out of the way, let me explain to you just how much it rocks to see a OneLineDrawing show.

Jonah Matranga will be the first to remind you that he’s not that much different from any guy on the street, and his “fans” are just warm and as down-to-Earth as Jonah himself. In a world of touring, meet and greets, and rock star tantrums over not getting the right brand of water on a tour rider, musicians of this caliber and anti-attitude are more friends to their audiences than idols. Nonetheless, Jonah’s legion of loyal followers continues to grow through word of mouth, and upon experiencing the live performances that stun just about everyone.

OneLineDrawing began as a solo acoustic project, which was formed about 2 years ago when the dissolution of his former band, Far, occurred. When speaking about Jonah’s music, one should expect to hear words like “grass roots” and “inspirational” and “beautiful” quite regularly.

OneLineDrawing, alongside ’emo’ gods Jimmy Eat World packed the Troubadour with teen, 20, and 30-somethings all there to experience the positive vibes, and get in touch with their softer sides. Tonight was special, in that Jonah would actually be performing in Hollywood as part of a 5-piece band, for the first time. Several regulars (who just so happen to be talented musicians) from the wildly popular onelinedrawing.com website have joined the project and have completed another element of Jonah’s many dreams surrounding this creation.

With Jonah on lead vocals and guitar, Nate totally rocking the drums, Matt and Mark jamming together on guitars, Sebastian thumping the bass, a demure Rohner on keyboards, and R2 minding his manners back there on a chair; the sound was vibrant, lush, and gave off a very layered feel as opposed to the intimate, quiet, sparkle of Jonah’s former acoustic shows. Apparently, though, this is only another beginning of many to come.

The audience, filled with familiar faces and newcomers were at one with the band and seemingly with each other for the entirety of the show. This was a perfect introduction to Jonah’s art. If you weren’t one of the lucky ones to witness it, keep an eye on the UnEarthed.com concert calendar for other upcoming shows in your city. The band performed early tracks from the independently produced “Sketchy #1” CD including “14-41”, “Aeroplanes”, the all-out inspirational “Better Than This” as well as the gorgeous and lullaby-feel of “Tides”and “Pollyanna” among others. As always, the velvet sigh of Jonah’s voice came through beautifully, complete with chills and tears for many of us who attended.

Jonah’s comments from the OneLineDrawing message board about the Troubadour show: “The show broke me open, I blurred in and out, I had to look for proof, and it was there. I’m so in love with this. Not just music, but constantly changing things up. Someone wrote about missing the acoustic thing, a couple people have; don’t worry; what I mean by onelinedrawing is that things don’t end and fall away. There will be plenty of solo shows to come and Rock; and shows that mix up R2 and Rock; and a capella, and goofy babble. So basically, huge thanks to everyone there last night for the first LA band thing, the second ever. I know everything is a first, but this really puts that phrase in bold relief. Welcome, discomfort, I love you.”