Allegra Krieger & Greg Mendez, at Rumba Cafe

Rumba Cafe is great. Easily in my top three venues in the greater Columbus area. The parking is free, the drinks aren’t given the PromoWest price hike and there’s a record store directly across the street. There’s also something about having a support beam going right down the middle of the venue, in a room where your heart rate won’t go up in the slightest if you ran from one side of it to the other.

I’ve been there for indie rock shows, country artists playing fiddles and ska bands blowing horns to folks two-stepping in the crowd. Monday night was a different kind of show at Rumba.

Allegra Krieger and Greg Mendez made it feel more intimate. The duo of singer-songwriters playing a dual headline set. It was an evening of inadvertent laughs, a local opener getting too big for its stage and a night that ended far too quickly.

This is me being 100% selfish but I don’t like shows with multiple headlining acts. What you end up getting are two (or more) sets that aren’t as short as an opener but too quick to be considered a headlining set.

What gets me through the one-man pity party are the benefits for the artists. Touring is rough. The cost of it, getting people to the show and then getting the acts themselves to each location. Plus slinging your wares night after night in repetition that makes days of the week a novel concept.

Also getting me through are the songs and moments that stand out from Krieger and Mendez’ trip to Central Ohio.

Opening the night was Villagerrr (three Rs, please). The five-piece Columbus-based act took the stage at 7:30 and played through a handful of indie songs sound like they’re straight out of the Midwest, with what’s best described as backing music that sounds MJ Lenderman-esque.

Villagerrr is a local band geographically, but are a band that’s touring both nationally and abroad. Having them play a hometown show also meant a larger crowd. I don’t know the usual draw for Krieger and Mendez, but there was most definitely a group specifically there to see their friends in the band.

The group also featured a special stand-in singer with Carolina Grace Chauffe, the singer-songwriter who fronts Hemlock. Villagerrr’s tones and music are hypnotic. It was my first time hearing the group live and it was a performance that led to me sharing it with anyone I think would care enough to listen.

Up next was Greg Mendez. Mendez stepped on stage and began playing while most people (I am most people) didn’t realize the set began. The quick start grabbed the room’s attention and shot it to Mendez sitting alone on a folding metal chair. After a few songs on his own, the solo act became a duo with V sitting next to Mendez.

Greg Mendez and V playing at Rumba Cafe on Oct. 21, 2024.

Included in the set were songs from Mendez’ newest EP “First Time/Alone,” including one of the title tracks “Alone,” which is my favorite of the four songs released. Mendez played three of the four in the 15 songs, all ranging from a minute and a half to three minutes.

Mendez fits more emotion than most can in a four-to-five-minute track. His lyrics are clear and punching. Through most of the set he’s also got a seriousness to his face that lends to the songs themselves. Until “Maria.”

V switched between playing a mini keyboard and a bass guitar. Sometimes with Mendez fading the keyboard as V held the final notes. Before “Maria,” V accidentally hit a low note on the keyboard. The serious façade of Mendez crumbled, with both starting to laugh.

Each time Mendez tried to start the song, a few times, he had to stop to collect himself. It was one of a few infectious moments throughout the night.

By 9:15, Allegra Krieger took to the stage, alone and again without any fanfare, except this time the crowd was ready. Playing a black telecaster with “Allegra” scrawled across the pick guard, the New York based singer-songwriter played through a few tracks from her new album “The Art of the Unseen Infinity Machine.”

Krieger sang alone, as her hair covered half her face but not causing any sort of interruption to the mood and feelings elicited by her music. Chats between songs were brief, same with Mendez, but it’s the Rumba Cafe, not an arena rock concert.

Similar to Mendez, Krieger wasn’t on stage alone for the whole set. Kevin, supporting on guitar (or maybe trumpet?), joined Krieger.

It wasn’t only new tracks for Krieger. Included was a cover of “Last Caress,” the one by the Misfits. Krieger warned the crowd of the violence of the song, a track that you can find on your own time that mentions babies and mothers, but there were lines that fit the aesthetic of the indie singer-songwriter genre.

“Sweet lovely death
I am waiting for your breath
Oh, sweet death, one last caress”

The motivation to sing the song wasn’t because it’s close to Halloween, but because Krieger herself saw another artist cover it in the more intimate way Krieger employs and honestly it worked.

Soon after, Mendez jumped on stage too as Krieger shared that her backing band had people back out of the tour. The first headliner stepped in on drums and at one point Carolina also joined to form some sort of indie singer-songwriter super group. Then Krieger had her own case of the giggles.

Before “Into Eternity,” a track telling a tale of watching life go by over a repetitive score, Krieger and the super group weren’t sure who was going to start the song after Mendez on drums started that night. It led to laughs from Krieger before ultimately getting into the track a minute or two afterwards.

Allegra Krieger with Greg Mendez at Rumba Cafe on Oct. 21, 2024

After “Serenity,” another from the new album, the show was done before 10:00 p.m. ET.

The only way the night could’ve been better was if there was more of it. There are two beasts inside of me: the one who appreciates getting home early on a work night and the one who doesn’t want the night to end.

For Monday’s concert, I’m finding the middle ground and landing on the old adage of quality being more important than quantity.