ITHACA, N.Y. — Audience members at last night’s show headlined by indie rock quintet Hammock and Tree all agreed that the band’s “impromptu” dialogue between songs was clearly more rehearsed than any of the band’s music.
“Everyone noticed their playing was very sloppy — there was one song where the guitarist must have stepped on the wrong pedal or something, because you couldn’t hear her at all… and at one point, I saw the bass player send a text,” said showgoer Andrew Nawrocki. “But when the music stopped, they really shined. They knew all the local bands, gave Angry Mom a shoutout, and even knew some of the guys from the Cornell basketball team — which played a big part in this three-minute long bit they did. They did their research, that’s for sure.”
Indeed, venue staff commended the band for their professionalism between songs, despite being terrible to work with at all other times.
“They showed up for load-in two hours late because they said ‘all the Taco Bells around here look like shit.’ Then, when they were backing their van in, they clipped the side of the building and did some real damage,” said promoter Tommy Legosa. “But I need to give them some credit: they were fucking funny up there. They had this one running gag between songs where they kept pretending like they were going to let the drummer talk, but then one of them would start tuning really loud. Oh — and then one of them was speaking Spanish for no reason; that busted me up. I don’t know… I guess you had to be there.”
Hammock and Tree’s roadie and de facto manager Tony Hanscome explained that the band has been experiencing an identity crisis, which led to their poor playing and extraordinary banter.
“We all moved to L.A. together a few years back, and they really gave it their all to make it as a band and get signed to a label and all that noise, but it never happened. Eventually, a couple of them took some classes at The Groundlings, and now they don’t give a shit about music — they just want to do sketches and get on SNL or something,” said Hanscome. “It was kind of fun at first, but now all they do is listen to podcasts about improv theory in the van and I want to die.”
Bar staff later noted that the band’s excuse for not being able to pay their tab also seemed very polished.
Photo by Drew Kaufman.