The Musician's Guild 'The Welcome to URI Show'

09/27/07 - The University of Rhode Island's Memorial Union Ballroom was the hub of entertainment this past Friday night. The URI Musician's Guild held one of its "all-nighter" concerts from about 6 p.m. until just after 11 p.m.The Guild, according to its advertisement, is a "group of dedicated URI students who are committed to supporting local musical artists.by helping artists network, as well as giving them opportunities to perform their work to the public."

True to their credo, the Guild put on an engaging and eclectic show comprised of both local Rhode Island and on-campus bands. Interestingly enough, no matter where the bands came from, I noticed they adhered to the current uniform of tattoos, tight girls' jeans, and hoodies.

Now, as a disclaimer, I was only able to take part in the festivities after 8 p.m., so I only got to see about four of the ten advertised acts, and missed out on the Bluelight District, the Hellbents, Chuck Bangley, Will Bierly and the Roller Holsters, and Roz Raskin.

The first act to come on after my arrival was Out of the Blue, a band I had seen at last semester's concert. A self-described pop-punk rock band, Out of the Blue's set and stage performance was much improved since the last time I'd seen it. Its set was fun- mostly because the band members looked like they were having a great time.

Somewhere deep down, I think we all want to be rock stars.

While the next band was setting up, I was spotted sitting conspicuously at a table in the back of the Ballroom, and was approached by a very polite gentleman from another upcoming act, the Coming Weak. May it be casually mentioned that from at a distance, he looked vaguely like Fall Out Boy's Pete Wentz.

He introduced himself as Nathan Harrop, and chatted with me briefly, mentioning that his band had just recently come out of the recording studio. Of course, my interest was piqued and as I settled in for the Candace Brooks Band I hoped that the Coming Weak would live up to my expectations.

The Candace Brooks Band took the stage in front of the largest crowd I saw all night (a little bit more than 30 people). The lead singer, Candace Brooks, absolutely blew me away with her powerful, yet not overpowering vocals. Clearly this was no amateur garage band.

Still, for all its talent and stage performance, it was refreshing and endearing to hear Brooks ask during a song change, "Quick question: who here knows how to change a guitar string?" Alas, the show must go on, and it did, without further complications. The band even covered popular tracks like the Donnas' "Take Me Out" and JET's "Are You Gonna Be My Girl," which were just superbly done.

I enjoyed the Candace Brooks Band, but I instantly fell in love with the Coming Weak, whose style of music was much better suited to my own indie rock/alternative tastes. Out of all the acts I saw, the Coming Weak had the most energetic, interactive, and professional stage show of the night. The gents used their stage space effectively and put on an impressive rock show.

After its set, I approached Tim White, the lead singer, and asked if the band was available for an interview, and I was in. Sitting in the designated "backstage area" I chatted with White as well as guitarist, Jamie Thomas; drummer, John Berard,; and bassist, Jeff Langmaid. Unfortunately, Nathan Harrop was "indisposed," according to White, at the time and was unable to join us.

Centered around Providence, the band has only been playing together since this past December, and yet it is already playing gigs and recording an independent EP, "Consider This," that I'm told is set for release on Dec. 11.

White, Thomas, Berard, and Langmaid are all from Rhode Island, and have one obvious thing in common: a love of music.

"I think we all just want to do music professionally.Ideally, we'll take it as far as it will go," White stated.

Each got started with music during their adolescent years (Thomas used to play at the Union's coffeehouse), while Berard and Langmaid had parental influences as well.

"I used to sing 'Come on baby, light my fire' with my mom," stated Landmaid with a laugh and received a good-natured ribbing from his band mates.

Berard recalls that his musical interest likely comes from his father, also a drummer, and his record collection that attracted him to bands like the Beatles from the time he was "a wee lad."

White has also immersed himself in music, having sung karaoke since he was 12, tinkering with the melody and harmony lines of the Beatles, and moving onwards into musical theater before getting into bands.

Throughout the whole conversation, the guys were very polite. White confesses that they even answer all their fan messages, and "appreciate everyone that ever came out to one of our shows" or bought merchandise. He gives a "big thanks to everyone that supports us," to which he quickly added, "Look out for the album when it drops!"

After I thanked the band members for their time, I returned to the Ballroom for the final act, an improved The Don't, who very professionally played to a grand total of five people as Chris Rosenquest played in the coffeehouse. The Don't, a band with a classic rock twist on hardcore punk, gave as energetic of a performance as one can give at 11 p.m. to such a small gathering. However, this gave it the advantage of audience-band interaction, including the memorable request from the guitarist, "If I could see any of you do the jitterbug that would make my day."

As the night came to a close, Jeffrey Chiv, president of the Musician's Guild, reflected on the evening's concert, saying, "Financially, the show was a success." The Guild was, "able to put on great local acts such as the Coming Weak and the Candace Brooks Band. However in terms of attendance, the show was sub par."