We’ve all encountered “That Guy” at one point in our lives. He most likely emerges at some point in late high school playing Stairway to Heaven or something by AC/DC in a garage band. In college, he sits on his porch or in the quad playing for a group of girls. At this point in his life, he has moved up to playing Dave Matthews Band or something from an indie group like the Shins, the Decembrists, or Death Cab for Cutie. Once he graduates with a philosophy, art history, or creative writing degree, he moves to “the city” to pursue his dreams of being a famous singer/songwriter who becomes rich and famous while never selling out. This almost certainly means he will wind up in New York City; however, he may also go to other cities such as Austin, San Francisco, or Portland. He will dabble with writing his own material and play in local fair trade coffee shops and bars that serve drinks in mason jars on open mike night hoping to get his big break. He plays a fifteen minute set with three of his own songs and closes the show with a slowed down acoustic version of Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face.”
After never making it big because he refused to sell out and produce commercial radio-friendly music, he longs to return to the days of sitting in the quad on a Tuesday afternoon impressing the ladies with his overly-nasally, slightly out of tune, sing-speak, Jason Mraz sounding, sensitive guy with an acoustic guitar crooning.
As you’re waiting to get into a show at a club or an arena, you glance up and see him a few people ahead of you in line. Note that if the concert is a metal act such as Metallica or Megadeth; a not-so-metal acts like Kiss or Def Leppard; a 70s band on their 9th reunion world tour like Rush or Fleetwood Mac; a band whose fans travel the country following their tour like Phish, Dave Matthews Band, or Widespread Panic; or any kind of southern rock or country act; “That Guy” will most likely be with a group of similarly dressed “Those Guys.”
You Might Be That Guy If... 