BETHANY CLANCY
Staff Writer
With the semester in full swing, so are the shows down at Black Jack’s, more popularly known as BJ’s.
About every other Wednesday you can find SUNY Fredonia students downtown with a mason jar and corn dog in hand getting ready to groove.
M.A.G.S., who are getting ready to release an album on Sept. 8, are returning to the Fredonia music scene for the third time and anticipation is high. Deadwolf, a psychedelic rock band hailing from Buffalo along with Johnny and the Man Kids, who are considered a Fredonia based garage rock band, will also take the stage.
The shows at BJ’s are run by Last Call Entertainment, a local booking company started by Fredonia graduates Aidan Licker and Pat Walker, who recently branched out to Buffalo.
There is a lot that goes into putting on a show and the Fredonia branch of Last Call currently has 11 team members to ensure the process is as successful as possible.
Lexi Reyngoudt and John Greenan are the two in charge of booking the shows and contacting the bands. Harper Fischer is in charge of the media team, which includes the photographer, Gabe LaVine, Morgan Henderson, their PR person and Lily Fischer with Alex Behrens, the videographers. Lastly on the team are Mike Tomasulo and John Vaughn, the sound engineers; they make sure everything sounds good for the bands and the crowd.
When there is a band that the Last Call team want to play at BJ’s, either Greenan or Reyngoudt reach out to them on Facebook or via email and explain how the Fredonia music scene is growing and how much the crowds love local music.
“We’ve had bands like Made Violent, Del Paxton and Head North come down because they love the vibe of the crowd in Fredonia and they always want to come back,” Reyngoudt explains.
Then there’s always a question of, “who should open the show?” Reyngoudt goes on to explain that they usually find bands that have a similar sound to the headliners or even have a good friendship with them, that way the chemistry between the bands flow together and creates a great show.
Whether it’s to enjoy the local music or to relieve the stress from the first half of the week, BJ’s shows are the way to go..
Mario Johnson, a senior VANM major, comments that they always put on a good show and that her and her friends are extremely excited to attend it. M.A.G.S has just released a new song/video titled, “Demon.” As always, a limited amount of students under 21 will be let in for $5. For anyone over 21, the show is free.