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KRIS HARRIS
Staff Writer
There is something about house shows here in Fredonia. Walking up to someone’s residence and hearing the low bass and drums pound against the walls immediately gets a person excited. There is almost always a crowd set up outside giving off the smell of cigarettes as you head inside and get taken away by the music.
This past Saturday, four bands were on the bill at Spirit Brew, a local residence in downtown Fredonia which doubles as a concert venue.
First was Local Opener, real name Alex Ryan. Local Opener intertwined the complex rhythms of math rock with nice indie pop melodies. Up next was Ellsworth, which immediately revved up the energy in the room.
The four-piece filled the basement with distortion, with frontman Luke Wheeler adding more and more charisma as the set went on. Playing a mix of originals and covers, the band perfectly executed each song.
Bobby Meader Music played next, coming all the way from Las Vegas to perform. For the band, the trek was not hard, as the group is on tour.
“The ride here was great; three hours wasn’t too bad. We missed the exit though, but that was my fault,” guitarist Jordan Jeager said happily. “Right now we are working on touring as much as possible, and we just recorded an album that will drop later this year.” For now, the band’s works can be found on Bandcamp.
Each song from Meader Music was like a journey, starting off very quiet, pulling in the listener, until the chorus came through, heavy and grandiose. At the end of each tune, routinely, Meader would always say gently, “Thank you.”
For Bobby Meader Music, a donation jar was passed around to support the players on their musical venture. Going on tour is not a cheap ordeal.
Putting the whole show together was not hard, according to Wheeler, who lives at Spirit Brew.
“Basically, we were contacted by Bobby, who is currently touring and was going to be in the region; we talked to a few of our favorite Buffalo acts and made sure the date was clear and put everything together.”
Throughout the night, the crowd wasn’t bouncing against the walls, but instead was mellow, heads lightly nodding to the music being played.
Fredonia’s own Annasun was the last to play. The group was a last-minute addition as one of the bands, Subtle Words, from Buffalo, was unable to make it. (One of the members got a fever earlier that day.)
However, the impromptu nature of the set worked in everyone’s favor.
The whole band didn’t show up — the only members of Annasun present were lead vocalist Erik Corrie and rhythm guitarist and vocalist Bryan Williams. Yet, having that duet was a perfect way to end the night. The two musicians completed one another, playing tunes reminiscent of those which could be enjoyed on a nice summer afternoon.
For Tom Mellen, senior adolescence math major, house shows are a delight.
“It’s been really awesome. Half the reason why the dudes at [Spirit Brew] bought this house is because we wanted to do [things] like this,” he said. “You see stuff like the Canadaway house — or even BJ’s [or] EBC, who started bringing smaller acts — bringing in people from out of town; it starts fostering a community of people that care about music.”