By Garrett Cecere
Former Editor In Chief
Energy, enthusiasm and a mellow mood accompanied three passionate rock performances as each artist took the stage.
Students who made their way to the Brower Student Center Room 225 on Feb. 25 were treated to three original performances from their peers. With the electric sound echoing through the hall as musicians warmed up, audience members knew what they were in for before the CUB Alt’s Student Band Night even began.
Performing under an alternating illumination of green, violet and vivid blue lights, senior interactive multimedia major Jonah Malvey kicked off the night with a solo act. With an acoustic guitar and a little help from a synthesizer, Malvey played songs that he wrote both on his own and with his band, Cheyenne Dan.
Malvey said that he especially enjoyed performing the song “Heavy Metal,” which will be released as a single on March 6. Despite not having a stand for his synthesizer, Malvey improvised, played the song and received applause.
“Heavy Metal … is one that I’m really excited to release because it’s so different from ones that we did before,” he said.
The energy and volume grew as Via Ripa took the stage for the second set. With heavy drums and a seamless mix of guitars and bass, each sound complimented one another from one song to the next.
Bassist Sean Cuddy, a senior marketing major, said that out of all the band’s songs, “Big Daddy Crick” was his favorite to perform.
“(The song) is about this really, really rich guy who spends his whole entire life becoming rich,” Cuddy said. “Finally, he loses his mind and he’s like, ‘What the fuck am I gonna do with all this money?’”
The band had never performed live before, but its debut didn’t seem apparent to the crowd members, many of whom danced right along to the rhythm.
“I had no idea until after that it was their first show,” said Devan Nieradka, a freshman open options political science major. “That’s just crazy that they were able to come out like that with all that energy and just deliver such a good performance.”
Although Cuddy is the only member of Via Ripa who is a student at the College, his bandmates shared his enthusiasm for performing at Student Band Night.
“I always like a small crowd, ’cause it’s super fun and personal,” said lead singer and guitarist Michael Pinckney.
One song that stood out Pinckney was “DiddlyDiddlyDiddly.” According to Cuddy, the song’s name has no special meaning.
“We just called it (“DiddlyDiddlyDiddly”) because that’s what it was, just a little diddly that we like to play,” Cuddy said.
Overall, Pinckney enjoyed the first opportunity for the band to play live in front of a crowd.
“(Performing live) was so fun,” Pinckney said. “It was so much fun. I love it.”
For the night’s final performance, the lights shifted to a red glow for Format War, a trio that featured smooth drumming and strong guitar and bass.
The band played songs from its new EP, which it just recorded in New Brunswick and will release in April.
Lead singer and guitarist Jack Sofka, a senior English major, enjoyed closing out the night and giving other students music to enjoy.
“It was cool. I’m glad people stuck around,” he said. “Other bands were tight. They’re good friends of ours, so … it was a lot of fun.”
