By Danielle Silvia
Social Media Editor
CUB Alt’s latest concert on Friday, Sept. 8 in the Brower Student Center featured three outside bands that were each diverse and talented.
The crowd was sparse when the show began at 6:15 p.m. There was a vendor space in the back of the room where each band was selling merchandise — stickers, shirts and posters featuring each group of artists.
The concert opened with Grayling, a Philadelphia-based solo project. The band, which is relatively new, was formed in 2015. The band is composed of four members including Lexi Campion, the lead guitarist and a current senior at Drexel University studying music industry.
Her brother, Greg Campion, is also a member of the band. He plays rhythm guitar and has a passion for performing in front of large audiences. From Hamilton, New Jersey, the sibling have Philadelphia and New Jersey ties that they hope will help the band’s future in finding concert venues.
In addition to the Campion siblings, Grayling has two other members: Rachel Wild, who is from the Poconos and is the band’s drummer and Sean Rynkewicz, the band’s bass player and a student at the University of the Arts.
Currently, the band performs about twice a month at various venues in the southern New Jersey region and Philadelphia area. The band visited the College in hopes of spreading the word of their music.
On Friday, they featured eight of their hit songs that were “electrifying and inspirational,” according to sophomore art education major Haley Mosseri.
In particular, their song “Soil” spoke about emotions and living life fully, a theme that the band centered many of their songs around. Their third song, “Tired” had a high energy tempo mixed with a tender, slow moving array of guitar strokes. “Tired” was about finding one that you love and whether “waiting for the one” is truly worth it.
The second opener, Hodera, is an all-male member group that kept audience members pulsing. Band leader Matthew Smith was the featured vocalist for the night. The other members of the band included Scott on drums, Doug on guitar, and Alek on bass.
Their sound incorporates elements of indie rock and Americana, and the band frequently tours all over the country. Annually, the band puts on about 100 to 150 concerts, according to Smith.
From the start, Hodera prompted the audience to come closer to enjoy the music. The featured flashing lights illuminated around the sound machines off and on to add to the overall effect of the performance.
In particular, Hodera’s third song “The Outside,” kept the audience rolling with excitement. The lyrics “everything’s fine on the outside” connected the audience with deep topics such as death and depression. “Hodera” utilized techniques such as repetition and alliteration in lyrics such as “little kids stuck in the pictures, little pills used to cure depression” to bring such topics to light.
When asked how she thought the performance was, Karin Flannery, a junior IMM and communications double major and CUB member, deadpanned, “Sick. Heavy.”
Hodera’s new record is set to debut on Oct. 20 and their release show is set for Nov. 3 in Brighton, Pennsylvania.
Finally, the headlining band, Microwave, took the stage at about 8 p.m. As soon as the band began, a high volume of people entered the performance space almost immediately and formed a mosh pit in the center of the space. Their first song, “Busy,” kept audiences dancing wildly.
“Grass Stains” was probably the height of the mosh pit’s performance — it even scared some audience members on the outskirts.
Junior Danielle Parks, a philosophy major, said that the group was “so passionate in their music. Even if you don’t know their music, you still appreciate their power.”
The night was a true success and audience members left with their ears ringing with joy. Each band drew in a new pool of fans with their powerful performance.
