A slew of acoustic acts descended on the College Union Board's (CUB) Student Soloist's Night on Feb.9.
Ben Krupit started off the night, prepping the crowd for an evening of covers and slice-of-life tunes. Krupit's set started with a cover of Dave Matthew's "Sing Along." Two of the six original compositions Krupit played, "Images" and "Fireflies," made use of the harmonica or what Krupit called the "sexiest instrument next to the accordion." "Dream Good," the closing song, was catchy and Krupit's voice was memorable.
Dmitry Esterov replaced Scott Sarfert, who had been slated to perform next, introducing himself by saying Scott had "gargled with rocks." Krupit sang with Esterov on his cover of "On Your Porch" by The Format. Esterov's set was littered with covers, including songs by Damien Rice, Jason Mraz and John Mayer.
As with Esterov, many of the songs Tim Grill played were acoustic covers. This allowed the crowd to sing along every now and then. His opening song was "Jimi Thing" by Dave Matthews Band.
To "slow it down a little bit" Grill played an original title, "Tripped Over A Rear View Mirror." His next cover was, Grill admitted, a risky one, because it was higher than he is used to singing. However, the crowd was still pleased to hear O.A.R.'s "Right On Time." Grill also covered John Mayer and Dispatch before going into a bit of Eric Johnson's "Cliffs of Dover" for the "Guitar Hero 3" fans. He closed with "Grey Street" by Dave Matthews Band.
John Dutton and bongo player Eric Paulsen were up next. The duo opened for Jersey legends Saves the Day in December. Dutton's opening songs "Before It's Too Late" and "Yielding to Rooftops" showed the crowd what the two had to offer: addictive bongo beats and a strong voice. After the third song "In Night," Paulsen asked the crowd to raise their hand if they had ever stolen anything from Eickhoff and told a story about how he was caught trying to steal a giant pumpkin. Dutton made sure to repeat that the fourth song was "on the CD you can buy," in reference to Dutton's debut full-length album "Do You Believe In What You Lie?"
