There's Musk in the Air at Tortugas Restaurant

The smells of burritos texano and enchiladas weren’t the only enticing flavors to fill the air at Tortugas Restaurant Friday night. Two of the members of the Bradford band Musk took the stage, dressed in cowboy attire, to deliver a tasteful acoustic set.

You might be thinking, “What kind of place is an authentic Mexican restaurant for a rock concert?” I was thinking the same thing, even for the first few songs. The band took to the stage at eight, just moments after the normal dinner rush walked out the door, and the few patrons that remained seemed more interested in the food on their plates than what was happening on the stage.

But the sound of music quickly drifted out into the winter wonderland outside. After a few slightly stiff opening songs that included covers by Weezer (“El Schorcho”) and Jack Johnson (“Sitting, Waiting, Wishing”), the band started to open up, and so did the doors. Before long, I was shivering in my shoes from the constant stream of young people walking into the restaurant and the cold air that came in with them – which was, by no means, a bad thing. It’s not everyday that a band plays in Bradford that draws a crowd instead of chasing them away.

The band members, Ryan Cannon and Greg Macfarlane, delivered their brand of ‘indie/post pop/psychedelic funk/folk’ even without lead singer Andrew Marsh and bassist Mike Bottorf. It’s rare to find a band that can execute cover material in a manner that does the original artist justice while still injecting its own flavor into the performance, but Musk Acoustic did not disappoint. The multi-talented members took the absence of their counterparts in stride and took advantage of the opportunity to showcase their additional abilities. Cannon took to the stage with a world drum, auxiliary percussion, and keyboard, while Macfarlane took control of the mic while performing his usual role as guitarist.

Macfarlane’s soft voice and intricate acoustic musings contrasted and complimented Cannon’s frenetic bongo playing like Mexican fried ice cream: you just can’t imagine that such a thing could exist, but it’s great once you’ve experienced it.

Musk Acoustic continued their set with songs from Wilco, Foo Fighters, The Proclaimers, My Morning Jacket, and Creedence Clearwater Revival.

“Our cover songs are what we listen to outside the band, but what would be popular inside a bar, so we play a lot of Weezer, a lot of Radiohead, stuff like that,” said Cannon of their set.

When the full band performs together, they try to integrate their original material with the covers they’ve selected in a manner that doesn’t have people walking the wrong way through the doors, says Macfarlane.

“We want it to be seamless, so a lot our originals sound like the songs we cover. We don’t want to play corny covers and jar someone with a really serious original song.”

The band also took the to time talk to and joke with the crowd. At one point, Macfarlane began losing his voice and apologized to the crowd, advising them “if it’s really light and fluffy and airy, it’s like icing on the cake. Just think of it that way.”

After a glass of water and a five-minute recess, his voice was good as new, though no one would have been likely to notice. Soon, members of the crowd were dancing between the tables and singing along. Musk Acoustic closed their set with a heart-warming rendition of 4 Non Blondes’ smash hit, “What’s Up.” It was moving to see so many people dancing and singing in unison at a performance in Bradford, and not entirely because they were under the influence of alcohol. The only places for bands to perform in Bradford until late have been bars. 

Although all of the members of Musk currently live outside of Bradford for school and work, they plan to get together in the near future to entertain crowds in the area.

“The sky’s the limit, man,” said Macfarlane of their plans for the future. “Wherever there’s ladies in the night, and there’s an odor of manliness, you’ll find us there.”

Cannon said that they hope to stay together for the long haul.

“I think when we finish school, we’ll all kind of regroup somewhere and hopefully take a more serious approach.”

DJ Grandy followed Musk Acoustic, entertaining crowds with hip-hop and radio hits until two in the morning. Grandy DJ’s at Tortugas Restaurant most Friday nights and occasionally also on Saturdays. For more information on performances at Tortugas, check back at Odeum Entertainment.