Live music is one of many pleasures in my life. Whether I’m familiar with what’s being played or not, it’s a rare occurrence when I walk away not enjoying what I’ve heard. I believe that rare occurrence happened last Wednesday night at Octopus Bar on College Hill where they hosted Satellite, a showcase of local area talent that happens once a month. Love the idea. Every upcoming artist needs that platform to shine and grow on. None of which happened Wednesday night. What you’re about to read is less of a review on music and more of a review of my first live music experience at Octopus. 

I arrived at the Octopus a little after 11 p.m. after enjoying some drinks with a few buddies at Social House. Trying to get a proper buzz before going into the unexpected. Buzzed probably isn’t the correct term for how I was feeling. You know the mood where you uncontrollably sing “Don’t Stop Believing” at one in the morning with your friends? Pretty much that. 

I was surprised with the amount of people attending when I walked in. Every booth and table had been taken and only two spots at the bar were open. I felt like Lloyd Christmas up there putting out the vibe, listening to the DJ set play “Love Sosa.” This prompted me to order Soco lime on the rocks. Only $3. Just adding fuel to the fire at this point. 

Now I’m not one to complain about size of concert venues. I’ve been in small bars, outside festivals and stadiums for shows. Always elbow-to-elbow with the person standing next to you, fighting for a comfortable viewing placement. There was none of that happening on the floor of Octopus. 

Marq C, local hip-hop artist from Waterloo hit the small stage with his own rendition of Rich Homie Quan’s “Type Of Way.” Everyone seemed to be crowded by the bar during the first few minutes of his set, no one standing by the stage. Can’t really blame them when Soco limes are only $3. The girl next to me ordered a water which sounded like a pretty good idea but I wasn’t ready to accept defeat at that point. “Another Soco lime, please.”

Ten minutes into the set, everyone standing by the bar were gone.  No one was standing by the stage because of a poorly placed table smack dab in the middle of the floor. This was about the time Marq C was doing a slow R&B number that K-Ci & JoJo would be proud of. I couldn’t have picked a better reason to stay. He then covered the song “Tuesday” by ILOVEMAKONNEN (I don’t know how to pronounce that either). 

People seemed bored the whole time. Marq C had the right idea by trying to get more crowd interaction but no one was having it that night. Marq C had great vocals when he decided to go a cappella. He was working a dead crowd which I have to imagine is every artist’s nightmare. It was a lame first time experience and first impressions are everything. There’s got to be another platform in town for these artists. 1.5/5 paws.