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VALERIE MUSSON
Special to The Leader
While most students were waking up Saturday morning feeling nothing but the consequences of their bad decisions from the night before, those who attended the intimate basement show at a house on Canadaway Street awoke with much more than that — another priceless memory of Fredonia’s one-of-a-kind live music scene.
There were five bands on the bill for Friday night’s show: La Vega, Barlow, Elemantra, Frame and Mantle, and Mooses. While they produced a wide range of sounds, they all had one key element in common: energy. Despite the small size of the overall performance space, each band managed to deliver solid instrumentals and vocals to give Fredonians a show they won’t soon forget.
First up was La Vega, a last-minute addition to the bill.
“We started playing here, I don’t know, maybe a year ago,” said drummer Jeremy Allenlittle. “We really like punk, but we also really like blues, so we wanted to combine that and have a musical experience for people that, while it had the same energy as punk rock, it had the musicality of blues and funk and jazz. We just wanted to take that all and fuse it into one musical environment.”
And that’s exactly what they did. They set the mood for the night by creating an atmosphere that had its roots in punk, but also had just the right amount of a funk sound as well.
“La Vega was very good. Interestingly enough, the drummer actually kicked over my rum … but that was okay, he was very apologetic,” said audience member and local resident Morgan Fallon. “And then I went and checked out his set and it was actually really good. So not only was he a nice guy, I was able to forgive him for kicking over my drink and went on to enjoy his set. Does that tell you something about the sense of unity tonight at the Canadaway house?”
Next up on the bill was Barlow, an indie rock/shoegaze band from Erie Pennsylvania. The band was started by bassist Jake Nowocyznski and guitarist/vocalist Ethan Oliva in 2010.
What made Barlow stand out from the others was the quality of roughness to Oliva’s voice and the band’s overall stage presence. The band has perfected its musical agenda and created a one-of-a-kind sound that isn’t often found in Fredonia.
Audience member and senior sound recording technology major Imoni Cole-Palmer said, “I think Barlow is a really great band. They included a lot of different styles. They had hardcore-style pop punk. They managed to keep it energized — they were really groovy. They weren’t too annoyingly melodic; they weren’t too annoyingly rhythmic; they were right in the middle, and it was perfect.”
Third on the bill was Elemantra, an alternative rock/shoegaze style band from Salamanca. The band brought something different to the stage. They used more audio effects than the previous bands, creating an even more unique blend of sounds to keep the energy at an all-time high.
“They really utilized all throughout a lot of cool effects,” said Fredonia alumnus Jeff Swift. “It’s very evident that their style comes from all different styles of punk rock rolled into one.”
Frame and Mantle, an ambient rock/indie rock group from Erie, took the stage next. The band’s sound was a nice change of pace from the previous bands in the sense that it slowed things down enough to really showcase the members’ talent and passion for music.
“I think they had a lot of good live energy, especially for such a small space,” said Swift. “I was still able to look around, see some people grooving to it, and get into the rhythm.”
The last band to take the Canadaway stage Friday night was Mooses, one of Fredonia’s well-known, and most beloved, psychedelic rock groups. The band never failed to deliver solid instrumentals, always coming up with something new and exciting to bring to the table. The members were rocking out past 1 a.m., and the audience just couldn’t get enough.
Mooses was a great end to a night that had already proven to be full of energy and good vibes.
Audience member from Buffalo Salvatore Guglielmo said, “Mooses [is] always great. I’ll definitely have to come back to visit Fredonia again.”