In its first off-land performance, The Pontoon Men ran into a few issues before they could begin.
Although The Pontoon Men just started as a band a month ago, member Matthew Albani said he has been familiar with pontoons since he was in the “pontwomb.”
“It’s always been a part of me,” the senior studying journalism, said, who drove his first pontoon at the age of six.
Spearheading what the duo described as the “untapped” genre of “pontoon,” The Pontoon Men took to the waters for a nautical Sunday performance at Strouds Run State Park.
More than 20 audience members piled into boats and set sail for the performance, which took place in the middle of Dow Lake. The pontoons held six to eight passengers each. When the boats filled up, several audience members slowly kept up in paddle boats and kayaks. The Pontoon Men rented the boats out specifically for the performance, which they funded with the money they earned playing at Acoustic Café shows in Baker Center.
As the pontoons set off to find a location for the performance and the slower boats struggled to keep up, the boat convoy quickly ran into problems. A police boat stopped one of the pontoons and warned its occupants about sitting too close to the front of the boat. After about an hour of preparation, the boats were tied together, snacks were passed around and the performance began.
All of the songs were pontoon-related, with lyrics such as “My other car is a pontoon,” and both of The Pontoon Men played acoustic guitar and sang. It was their first aquatic performance since the band formed in March.
Before they were The Pontoon Men, Albani and his bandmate Aaron Intrater were playing music in a room in Intrater’s house when they noticed it had a distinctive shape.
“We realized the room that we were playing in was shaped like a pontoon,” Intrater, a senior studying journalism, said. “Then the music just kind of wrote itself.”
The two had been friends for years but just recently decided to start playing music. They said they typically try to write one new pontoon-themed song a week, but sometimes they produce three or four when they are feeling particularly inspired, “especially today on the water,” Albani said.
When writing music, Albani keeps a crucial question in mind: “What do the people who enjoy pontoons want to listen to?”
“There’s something about going on a pontoon,” Albani said. “It just brings people together. You’re just on a small vessel and you become friends with everybody on it. It’s pretty beautiful.”
Hannah Anthony, a junior studying psychology, arrived at Strouds Run too late to get aboard a pontoon. After she and Tom Gilchrist, an Ohio University alumnus, watched the boats drift off, the Strouds staff members allowed them to rent two kayaks for free because they were part of the group.
“We drove up here and we were seeing everyone ride off. We were like, ‘No, wait,’ ” she said. “But we couldn’t catch up.”
Nevertheless, the pair caught up on their kayaks just in time to watch The Pontoon Men perform.
“They are not only singers,” she said. “They are entertainers.”
Alex Pete, a senior studying nutrition, is friends with The Pontoon Men and has watched them perform at Casa Nueva. But this floating performance was a first for her.
“I never ever had that happen,” she said. “Ever in my life.”
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As the Pontoon Men wrapped up its performance, Albani gave the audience a sentimental parting.
“You never say ‘goodbye’ on a pontoon because that means you might not ever ride on a pontoon with them again,” he said. “Instead we say, ‘It has been calm waters with you.’ ”
@seanthomaswolfe
