Head down to Eclectic this Friday for battle of the bands, which will determine the opener for this year’s Spring Fling.
Contestants include:
Come support your favorite Wes bands!
Date: Friday, April 18th
Time: 10pm – ?
Place: Eclectic
Cost: Free
Facebook: Click Me
John Ryan’14, aka cutest kid around, wants you to come to this awesome show:
On Friday, November 1st, better known as All Saint’s Day (also the second day of the Day of the Dead celebration and in some places the day after Halloween) come hear some music in the Westco Cafe. Jelly Man Kelly ’14 would really appreciate if you came to the show.
Music starts around 10 PM.
First up: TEEN GIRL SEX PANIC
https://soundcloud.com/teen-girl-sex-panicthen: ROBERT’S DON
http://robertdon.bandcamp.com/later: FEATHERWOOD BEE
http://featherwoodbee.bandcamp.com/
Date: November 1st
Time: 10pm-1am
Place: Westco Cafe
Cost: FREE FREE FREE
From John Ryan ’14:
The second coming of Big Tusk is upon us! Starting at 9PM on Thursday at Eclectic.
Miss the Tusk at Farm House last year? You hear the names Sam Long ’12 and Howe Pearson ’12 and you think oh man those guys are awesome?
Headlining the show is Big Tusk, comprising of Sam Long (guitar), Howe Pearson (drums) and David Thompson (keyboards). All these guys went to Wesleyan and were mainstays of the campus music scene. They now reside in West Philadelphia, taking Big Tusk to masses. Big Tusk Music: here.
Opening acts include:
Dead Babe featuring Gabe Greenberg ’14 and Noah Rush ’14. Music: here.
Featherwood Bee featuring Kelly Lee ’14, Adam Johnson ’14, and John Ryan ’14. Music: here.
Date: Sept 26
Time: 9PM to midnight
Place: Eclectic
This weekend represented a moment of renewal for a number of student bands. For one, on Thursday, the Japanese, now featuring plaintive songwriting and Adrien DeFontaine ’13’s new hairdo, returned to activity after a long hiatus. Also, Grand Cousin (who I do remember, bawwwk, was once called Grandfather) has perhaps made the ranks this weekend as hardest-working or most persistently present Wesleyan band, what with their two appearance on concert headers and avant-garde new music video. Also, Featherwood Bee (on Thursday) continued being awesome, and O Presidente continued to prove that they can’t keep themselves away for long after their debut album release.
One of the few outsiders thrown into this mix was Jacco Gardner, the NPR-acclaimed Dutch producer and multi-instrumentalist, and his bandmates, who played on Friday night. Their music was soothingly atmospheric, balancing on the historical cusp between mid-60s mod rock and late-60s psychedelia. Songs like “The Ballad of Little Jane” had just the right amount of creepiness, and reminded me of the Rolling Stones in their Brian Jones era. Jacco was endearingly sincere, expressing gratitude to the crowd and excitement for their adventures in America (it was their first time playing on this side of the pond) and imminent trip to SXSW. The drummer wore sunglasses indoors, which I can both respect and suspect for a lad from the pot-soaked Netherlands.
Click through for some video of Johnny Love and the Heartmen from A-Batte ’13 and some jumbled-together photos from me (Eric Lopez ’15‘s set makes for a more complete document).
From Ethan Hill ’16:
AuralWes presents dutch psychedelic pop musician Jacco Gardner in the Cafe this Friday! Gardner just released an astonishingly beautiful debut record, The Cabinet of Curiosities, and he and his band are touring the States for the very first time this winter. His show here at Wesleyan will be his DEBUT U.S. APPEARANCE, so don’t miss this special evening!
NPR says: “Dutch multi-instrumentalist and producer Jacco Gardner’s debut album, Cabinet of Curiosities, offers a fresh take on the baroque pop sound of the 1960s. Gardner plays every instrument on the record except drums, and his studio acumen, command of instrumentation and sense of arrangement recall and update the kind of ornate songs orchestrated by groups like The Left Banke and The Zombies and producers like Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks.
Easily distracted Internet musings on Friday night’s psychedelia.
Opening up WESU’s much-hyped Spring Concert Series with a fuzzy bang full of wha-wha guitars and freaky visuals, Connecticut’s The Stepkids performed on Friday night in what may be the most psychedelic happening at the Memorial Chapel since the Už Jsme Doma performance in 2010. In the spirit of an old-school Wesleying tradition that has lain dormant for too long, we’re reviewing the show in the form of a Wesleying staff Gchat session. Eventually it devolves into a reflection on Linus, sausage grinders, and Scott Brown’s porn career, because obviously that happens. Read on anyway.
Photos below by me and Goatmilk.
Like rock? Psych pop? Stepchildren? Jesse “Jesse & Brent” Brent ’13 has great news:
We’re kicking off our concert series with a bomb-ass show! The Stepkids, hailing from Bridgeport and signed to Stones Throw Records (J Dilla), are bringing their audiovisual spectacular to the Memorial Chapel this Friday night, supported by New Haven/Brooklyn rocker Sidewalk Dave and Wesleyan’s own Featherwood Bee. FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC! Learn more on our website and join the Facebook event. What up, CT!
What: The Stepkids/Sidewalk Dave/Featherwood Bee
Date: Friday, February 22
When: Doors 7:30; Featherwood Bee 8:00; Sidewalk Dave 8:45; The Stepkids 10:00
Where: Memorial Chapel
Cost: Free
Who can attend: Everyone
Bring: Dancing shoes; white shirts. (You’ll see why.)
Eric Lopez ’15 brings you ear candy to accompany your lonely, companionless soul this Valentine’s Day:
HONESTLY FUCK VALENTINE’S DAY AND ALL THIS ROMANTIC SHIT
COME OUT AND HAVE SOME SWEET SWEET TUNES QUELCH THE FIRE IN YOUR HEART (and pants).SLOWDANCE: COMING OUT OF BROOKLYN, NEW YAWK, THEY ROCK OUT TO SONGS WITH FRENCH LYRICS. WHAT MORE DO YOU NEED.
FEATHERWOOD BEE: DRUNK ASS FEATHERWOOD BEE IS AT IT AGAIN.
DON’T MISS OUT ON ONE OF THE BEST WESLEYAN BANDS.So get off those ACB M4whatever posts and come enjoy a non-saccharine cultural bonanza.
Date: Thursday, February 14th
Time: 10 pm
Place: WestCo Café
Cost: Free
Facebook: Link
Thursday night at the WestCo cafe, Brooklyn-based folk-rock band Fletcher C. Johnson warmed the crowd with their blues-rock and made it feel like seeing a high school band play noisy folk tunes out of their garage on a summer night somewhere in suburban California. It’s no coincidence that Pitchfork crowns Fletcher’s music as a totally respectable revival of 1960s blues-rock scene, but with its own pop-rock spin. Fletcher is remarkable for their organic incorporation of danceable rock music with traditional folk and blues.
Wesleyan’s own Featherwood Bee set the scene for the first hour with their hard-rock jams. Bee, consisting of WesKids Ben Gottesman ’13 (bass), Adam Johnson ’14 (drums), Kelly Lee ’14 (guitar, vocals) and John Ryan ’14 (lead guitar, vocals), opened the show with rock n’ roll music. Their music features bass-heavy verses punctuated by loud, explosive choruses—as is customary in hard rock. In most songs, you can hear obvious Led Zeppelin influences; but in their more mellow tunes, there are traces of The Grateful Dead and their blues, jam-band style. This band is pretty active on the music scene here at Wes, so if you don’t see them play in the near future, check out their music here.
From the impeccably dressed Ethan Hill ’16:
After bringing you such groovin’ shows as Prince Rama and Mac Demarco, Aural Wes is excited to present yet another evening of sweet rock n’ roll goodness with Fletcher C. Johnson and his band. The Brooklyn pop virtuoso is bringing his catchy jamz to the WestCo Café this Thursday along with Featherwood Bee, who I’m sure you all know and love. Be prepared to get down and boogaloo to some of the prettiest twangy pop tunes you’ll ever know.
Date: Thursday, November 29th
Time: 10 pm – 1 am
Locale: WestCo Cafe
Cost: Your Soul
Facebook: Aye
