As Welcome Week starts to simmer down and awkward icebreakers give way to back-to-school anxiety, fall entertainment at the College has just begun.
On Tuesday night, Café Under the Stars, hosted by the College Union Board (CUB), jump-started what appears to be a promising year for campus bands.
Though the event turned into Café Under a partially lit ceiling due to the weather, the Brower Student Center Food Court filled by the middle of the night.
New Jersey natives Pegasus Jetpack introduced songs from their album set to be released Dec. 26, including “Motel Nights” and “Unexpected.” The band consists of vocalist and guitarist Jon Irizarry, senior business and communication studies major, bassist Rick Rogers, and drummer Pat Maloney. According to Irizarry and Rogers, the three have been playing together for three years, a fact evident in their cohesive set.
“This was our first show since recording, so there were a few slip ups,” Irizarry said on their performance. Any mistakes went unnoticed by the audience, who seemed involved in the band’s polished sound.
While Irizarry and Rogers identified their music as psychedelic rock, traces of grunge and hard rock crept into certain songs.
The fusion of genres presented by The Poor Player translated to slight confusion on stage, not quite matching the sharpness of their predecessors. However, what the band lacked in consistency, they more than made up for by their energy and signature style. The band’s sound is a blend of blues, soul and rock, brilliantly performed by lead vocalist and guitarist Erik Romero, pianist Lisa Ball, drummer Chuck Winkler and Steve Voelker sporting a tenor sax,senior music majors, and bassist Dave Lester. The combination of the band’s clear love of performance and unconventional inclusion of the tenor sax set it apart from the other performers of the night.
Despite the initial scarcity of the crowd, Rare Candy performed an impressive set of originals and covers to the same caliber had the room been filled to capacity.
The band consists of lead vocalist and guitarist Matt Huston (also Signal Nation and World Editor), his younger brother Andrew Huston on drums, and bassist Ben Cole. Some of the band’s originals included “We Tell Ourselves Stories,” “Frown” and “On a Monday.
