Plaedo Wellman was concerned as he introduced himself to the audience at One World Cafe Aug. 31. The self-described “story-telling hippie hop philosopher” needed to improvise — his usual act appeared to be thwarted by a faulty sound system.
The crowd anticipated a mind-expanding evening of music and poetry from Wellman, who uses a variety of looping voice effects to spread a message of love and positivity.
“He’s in your face, but also in your mind,” said Russell Romney, a fourth year student at the University of Idaho who had previously seen Wellman perform.
But with warbled, staticky speakers ruining his usual act, this evening would have to go a different direction. After 20 minutes of fiddling with cords and plugging cables in different outlets, Wellman gave up, deciding to go a capella.
Andrew Brand | Argonaut
Plaedo Wellman, a former University of Idaho student, performs the evening of Aug. 30 on stage at One World Cafe in downtown Moscow.
“Why be good when you can be great,” he began, stomping and clapping in rhythm. The audience quickly caught on, joining in and taking over the beat. Lacking his familiar backing track, Wellman forgot the words during the second verse. He recovered quickly, however, and his enthusiasm made any flubbed lyrics a nonissue.
Crowd members soon stepped in to provide instrumentation.
A One World employee mentioned the cafe had a djembe drum available in the back. Trevor Williams, the opening act, returned to the stage with his guitar and Moscow icon Fiddlin’ Big Al happened to have his fiddle with him, completing an impromptu instrumental backing.
“This is the first time in a long time I haven’t had my computer, my crutch,” Wellman said to the audience.
Instead, the audience was treated to a free-wheeling, unrehearsed performance, with Wellman inviting various crowd members to play guitar and drums.
“Pretend you know what you’re doing, and eventually you’re doing it,” explained Fiddlin’ Big Al.
Wellman gave the crowd a crash course in beatboxing, asking them to repeat the phrase “bouncing pizza, bouncing cats” while removing vowels and emphasizing the consonants. He rapped on top of the beat, free-styling based on cue words from the audience.
While the level of interaction with the crowd was unusual, Wellman’s message of radical inclusion and self-acceptance was not.
Based in Eugene, Oregon, Wellman’s life and music have had a strong activist bent. After attending UI, he travelled extensively and established himself at a variety of protests, from demonstrations against the Iraq War to the Occupy movement.
His website notes a variety of performance venues: universities, coffee shops, protests, clubs and street corners among others, but Wellman’s career began at One World, performing poetry while a student at UI.
Danny Bugingo can be reached at [email protected]