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BETHANY CLANCY
Staff Writer
Another successful Wednesday night show at BJ’s happened on Feb. 1. Despite the frigid temperature and blowing snow, the room was packed right as the clock struck 10 p.m. As an unofficial dress code for the night, almost everyone had Hawaiian shirts on and was ready to jam.
The first band on the bill was the Music Industry Club’s Battle of the New Bands winner, Pier Pressure. The group formed in the Fall of 2016 with all members being Fredonia students. With the new year, lineup changes had to be made, still making it Fredonia-oriented with Michael Earle on vocals, Jorian Holka and Jack Steger on guitar, John Vaughan on bass and Matt Edwards on bass.
To describe their sound, Holka, a senior exercise science major, said, “We say that we’re a dad-core band that combines the elements of hard rock with the crashing of the sea. Numerous genres can be identified in our original music, some pop-punk, to alternative, to blues/funk and hard rock. This is a lot different from my other projects that I’ve been in. It’s more fun, relaxed and experimental. We all bring our own musical influences to the table.”
Their set at BJ’s was full of upbeat songs and a cover of Blink-182’s “First Date” along with Cage the Elephant’s “In One Ear” — two very different styles of songs, but each sounding right coming from this band.
Next up was northernstate, another Fredonia-based band whose members all originate from Long Island. The band also formed in Fall of 2016 in the basement of drummer Rob Brennan. “We knew each other for quite sometime, all played music and had very similar music tastes. We knew that once the opportunity arose, we all wanted to start writing songs and playing shows together,” Brennan, a junior music industry major said.
When describing the band’s genre, Brennan said, “I usually let the listener decide. Right now I see us as a pop-punk/emo group.” Some of their inspirations include bigger bands like Four Year Strong, Every Time I Die and The Story So Far, along with local bands, Rescue Dawn and Kill the Clock.
With this show being their second at BJ’s, they blew it out of the water. From start to finish fans were jumping around, starting mosh pits and finger pointing lyrics back into vocalist Tom Brennan’s face. They played all originals and had such a high energy throughout the night. Dan McCormick of Kill The Clock even did guest vocals for a song.
There was also a special appearance by the band Super American (and their pineapple), who will be playing a show at BJ’s on Feb. 15. Those who were there Wednesday night got an exclusive listen to their new single, which the crowd went nuts over.
Closing out the show was M.A.G.S, an indie punk band from Buffalo, New York. “I tend to draw from a lot of different sources when I’m writing so from my perspective it’s tricky to pin down one genre,” frontman Elliot Douglas said. The band started off as a solo project done by Douglas in 2014, but last summer, he recruited Andy Wesner for bass and Tyler Mendola of Deadwolf for drums.
As far as musical influences, Douglas says that he “tends to be influenced by a vibe or an attitude more so than musicality … Thomas Erak from The Fall of Troy, the band PUP and Jimi Hendrix are a few of my biggest influences.”
Fredonia was one of his most memorable shows, so to be playing back at BJ’s was very exciting for him and the other two members. Their set was toned down compared to the punk rockers in northernstate, but that did not stop anyone from dancing and jumping the night away. One mention that a song had been written for his wife was met with a chorus of “aww” from the crowd.
Everybody at the show left with tired feet and as fans of great new music.
One mention that a song had been written for his wife was met with a chorus of “aww” from the crowd.