URI Musician's Guild showcases diverse local bands in atrium

12/02/08 - Two Fridays ago, the University of Rhode Island's Musician's Guild, a group dedicated to promoting local musicians, hosted a concert featuring seven area bands: Dorado 30, Scare Don't Fear, City Confessions, Noise Campaign, Vermin, California Smile, and The Coming Weak.The seven bands, all relatively unknown, shared five hours performing in the Memorial Union Atriums in an effort to broaden their respective audiences.

"Our goal is to give local musicians an opportunity to move up and give them exposure," said Jeff Chiv, Musician's Guild president.

In an effort to keep the concert from slowing down, the show alternated between both Atriums allowing bands to setup while the band before them would finish playing.

Around 7 p.m., Dorado 30 took the floor and erupted with a dark, crude and heavy sound that included overdriven guitars, keyboard, bass and drums. Sounding like an angry wolf, the main singer screamed lyrics that pierced the walls of Atrium 1.

Playing a hardcore style similar to Dorado 30, Scare added a more unique component. Along with the thrashing instruments and heavy pulsing rhythms, Scare Don't Fear featured a rapper, which added a hip-hop aspect to the rock-dominant night.

City Confessions was next to play and brought with it a change of pace. Playing in Atrium 1, the band broke the night's short-lived motif of hardcore/heavy metal and presented a sound more comparable to Simple Plan.

Instead of an overly dark sound, City Confessions played with an exceedingly poppy vibe that was a welcome break from the cacophonic sounds of the previous two bands.

From West Warwick, R.I., Noise Campaign followed, but was plagued with technical problems. Noise Campaign was still able to play a proficient set regardless of any sound problems.

They performed with a sound similar to fellow Rhode Island band, Monty Are I. The lead guitar excelled and was the highlight of most of their songs. The bass also contributed significantly and Noise Campaign altogether gave a swift and notable performance.

Vermin, an industrial band from Northampton, Mass., provided the most theatrical performance of the night. Having an odd percussion setup with two steel chairs and a metal pipe, Vermin was also the most unusual band to perform.

They played songs that created a strange trance-like atmosphere that would be more suited for a deranged underground rave.

In the climax of their final song, the percussionist hoisted an old Casio keyboard over his head, threw it off the stage onto the ground, and continued to forcibly dismantle the wretched chunk of metal and plastic. Crowd members were encouraged to join in on the destruction as some stomped and jumped on the ill-fated keyboard.

California Smile and The Coming Weak were ultimately the highlights of the Musician's Guild show. Both bands put on exceptional sets and received the biggest cheers of the night.

California Smile created a hellish, but outstanding, atmosphere with their songs as spectators threw paper planes around the room. With the traditional guitar, bass and drums, California Smile also included a synthesizer and piano adding dynamic element to the band.

The band, armed with masks and face paint, displayed excellent musicianship, great sound and easily could have played longer in front of the captivated audience.

The Coming Weak ended the night with a mainstream sound that seemed to take a 180 from the beginning of the show. The five hour marathon that began with heavy metal screaming ended with a band that was somewhat reminiscent of bands Green Day and Rise Against.