This year, Alex Brubaker started First Fridays, an event to help campus musicians gain experience performing actual sets instead of just single songs at Coffeehouse. Each month he hosts a few artists either outside the Union on the patio or in the Fishbowl. Sometimes he brings in outside guests, which have included Suzi Brown and Joseph Strider. I've made it out for a few, but for some reason haven't gotten around to reviewing them and probably shouldn't try to remember that far back to do one after the fact.
This month featured Matt Wagner, Natalie Ness, and Jeff Waters. Wagner opened up, bringing along a few accompanying musicians for some songs as he did at the Sycamore House show. His guitar work was more complex than the average singer-songwriter, probably because he's a music performance major. He closed the show with an acoustic rendition of his dance-pop tune "Vienna", which has since become a staple in my indie-dance sets. Next up was Natalie Ness, a regular performer on campus whose multi-instrumental performances always bring a mix of originals and covers rearranged to fit better with them, like her popular medley of Lady Gaga songs. Closing out the evening, my RA from freshman year, '08 homecoming king Jeff Waters returned to campus with an abundance of new material written since graduating. The focus of his latest album is on travel, as all of the songs were written while aboard planes, trains, and automobiles or backpacking across Europe. Standout tracks "Manhattan Blues" and "Postlude" were as beautiful live as they were when I first heard the demo recordings, as Waters' perfect pitch never failed us. Be sure to come out to the final First Friday on May 6 for another evening of local music curated by Alex Brubaker.
This week's show was supposed to include guest DJing by Jared "The Hound" High's parents, who were kept away by weather, and a live performance by Natalie Ness, who was under it. It did not, but it did include the usual inane joking and bizarre 3-song genre explorations. Listen & enjoy (?) Be sure to catch Natalie, Jeff Waters & Matt Wagner at First Fridays [RSVP here] and Iron & Wine coming through this area later this month (Philly, Bmore, etc.) If you want to hear more dance music from us, Matt Pfeiffer and myself will be 'spinning' for Relay for Life here at Messiah next weekend.
This past weekend I dropped some jams on some cool kids at the Sycamore House on Allison Hill for their fundraiser benefiting the community garden they are starting. Before that happened, Matt Wagner, Craig Kile & co. played a set, ending with this hilarious acoustic rendition of Das Racist's "Combination Pizza Hut & Taco Bell":
You can catch Matt later tonight at First Fridays in the Fishbowl, along with Jeff Waters and Natalie Ness (who bailed on The Fox and the Hound Show this week due to illness). The residents from the house played a short set of covers as well before we all adjourned upstairs for a great performance by Darry Miller & the Veil. As many people as possible packed into the loft, overflowing down the hall and stairs to see/hear what was universally described as an incredibly tight performance. Since the last time I saw them at my birthday show, the band has picked up a new drummer and added Derek Jenkins on keys and background vocals, filling out their sound with both a blues feel and pop sheen I never knew they lacked. Despite my jury-rigged microphone stands and the small space, the guys played a great show. Definitely catch them live at Drexel on the 7th if you can!My set to close the show included this song, among other goodies:
photo of Darry Miller & the Veil courtesy of Reverb Nation
For those of you in the Harrisburg area, Flying Circus fam Darry Miller & the Veil, along with Matt Wagner & friends will be playing tomorrow around 8 PM at the Allison Hill Sycamore House as part of a fundraiser for a community garden they are starting. I'll be DJing the afters, thanks to my man Phil Wilmot. [RSVP on Facebook] I'll probably be playing jams like this:
