So far there has been precisely one band with banjo that I was able to handle, 16 Horsepower. Despite not being one of the genres I am into, I love their Low Estate and Sackcloth 'n' Ashes. These sounds bring you to another world due to its charm, quite alien to Scandinavia.

Two acts are in the program today. Henry Wagons. Where to begin? Henry Wagons is an aussie doing vocals and acoustic guitar and this evening he is accompanied by a pal on keyboards who switches to guitar on a few songs and does clean vocals. And this is it - just two people. Like some vegetarian meals that lack substance, the absence of percussion is painfully obvious.. Like you get the garnish, but there is no meat you came for. Generally, it is a good musical combination with keys making it sound substantially better, but the groove is very far from being complete. Henry sounds like any (good) local pub band. The first song is two chords and complimenting keys. Our local Mr Orkester, Sebastian Uul, reaches a better groove while doing several instruments alone.

I enjoyed the vocals, overall sound, and charisma, but the show felt more like weak stand-up with songs in between. The second song has a long introduction - it is about dragging people from home to see a gig. And admittedly I am very surprised to see Sentrum being sold out. But then the stories become dumber and dumber (and it definitely works, since half of the audience is dreadfully drunk this Thursday). Henry delivers a solid cover of Nine Inch Nails' Hurt—a song he likely wouldn’t touch if not for Johnny Cash, and for the last song he invites a random dude to do train whistles, which works fun and entertaining.

All of the gig I was thinking of The Dresden Dolls, a duo that sounded so groovy because of the drums in the band. I think it would really fit this act - get drunk and go see them live.

The stage is stuffed with prop wild houses from the wild west. The Dead South is the main act tonight, and I need to sustain a very long set of country rock. There are a lot of lights, they come even from the prop houses, but quite randomly, and generally not improving the show.

The Dead South definitely deliver much more groove than the first act, they have a very good dynamic mix, with cellist doing the bass duties, a mandolin, a guitar, banjo (as of today, I am officially a banjo concert survivor), a kick drum, some more percussions and several instrument changes during the gig. The atmosphere of the wild west is there too. I dig the melodies, but there is precisely nothing that stands out. The big hit, In Hell I'll Be in Good Company, gets the crowd cheering, but it doesn’t linger in the mind for long, but it is on a better side of the set-list.

It is a quality gig, just definitely not my cup of tea. Frankly, it is terribly boring compared to something as funny as Henry Wagons. That’s why the plastic cups on the floor are as countless as grains of sand on a beach—you need to be properly wasted to enjoy it.