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(03/29/17 3:26am)
By Kimberly Ilkowski
Staff Writer
In a space like a college dormitory basement, there’s an “anything goes” mentality. Free of the pressures and expectations of traditional shows, artists are able to share more sincere sides of themselves and experiment with their music in a way that could only be embraced by a campus community.
Rightfully so, each artist who performed at the latest CUB Alt installment on Tuesday, March 21, debuted new songs never before played in front of a live audience. Philly favorites Hurry, the charismatic Chris Farren and headliner Eskimeaux all tried out new material during their sets in the Decker Social Space.
Led by Matt Scottoline, pop alternative outfit Hurry has risen in the scene following its 2016 album “Guided Meditation.” The band played a handful of songs from this release like “Fascination” and “When I’m With You,” as well as “Oh Whitney” off of 2014’s “Everything/Nothing.”
The band keeps things simple, lyrically and musically, allowing for catchy, up-tempo tracks straightforward enough to be widely accessible — and Hurry certainly never underestimates the power of a positive, well-crafted pop song.
Hurry has been in the studio recording its next record, and the crowd got a glimpse of the new power pop material when the band played several new songs, including one aptly about being on your cell phone.
“I’m trying a few new things, but it’s not drastically different,” Scottoline said in an interview with The Signal after the show. “So, if you liked ‘Guided Meditation,’ then I hope you’ll like this and hopefully there’s ever more to like about it.”
Scottoline and the rest of the trio feel fortunate about where the last few years have taken them and who has stuck around for the ride.
“We’ve just been very lucky ‘cause I think you can always try to make the best music you can make, but there’s a lot of people who make great music, and they don’t get lucky breaks,” Scottoline said.
One of Hurry’s biggest supporter-turned-close-friend was the evening’s next billed artist Chris Farren. The two are both known for their larger-than-life social media presence, which begged the question of what the pair was up to while Farren stayed in town with Scottoline.
“It’s not that exciting, last night we stayed up kind of late talking,” Scottoline said and then laughed. “And then we got tired and went to sleep.”
When Farren took the stage following Hurry’s performance, the ordinary portrait Scottoline painted melted into the background. With enough stage presence to power a full band, Farren embarked on the show solo with guitar in hand. Farren set his focus on material from 2016’s “Can’t Die” and played songs such as “Say U Want Me,” “Still Beating” and the instant crowd pleaser “Human Being.”
His extra long guitar cord allowed him to explore the space fully, at times wailing on his electric or making his way across every inch of the stage. In a change of pace, Farren also played “Where U Are” off of a 2015 EP and toned it down a notch for the mellowed out “I’m Not You.”
At one point, Farren took his equally as long microphone cord and ran into the audience, laid down on the floor and played different sounds off his sample pad. Later, he found himself walking completely through the crowd and to the back of the room to hang off the support beams. His style of unabashed, energetic revelry made for an absolutely captivating performance.
In an interview after his performance, Farren discussed what went into the making of
“Can’t Die,” released via Side One Dummy.
“Recording was awesome and weird and isolating,” Farren said. “I recorded it mostly on my own. I had people play on it, but I mixed it myself, and I played a lot of the instruments myself, so there was a great amount of time where I was just alone. … It feels like it means more to me than anything I’ve put out because I put so much of myself into it.”
With such an effervescent personality, it’s not a surprise Farren puts so much of himself into his work and live performances. That’s another reason he likes to share prolifically with fans on social media.
“I think it’s important to be reasonably accessible and transparent in some ways and honest,” Farren said. “The people that I connect with, the people that I’m fans of — I’ve come to realize that they’re just normal people, so it’s kind of important for me to put out there in general when I feel insecure and stuff.”
That honestly comes out in all aspects, even when he told a tale about his time spent staying at Scottoline’s home.
“He’s got two guinea pigs that I’m allergic to, and he forces me to stay at his house in the same room as his guinea pigs. … He rubs them all over me, so I’m not allergic anymore,” Farren said.
The relaxed atmosphere of the evening was highlighted by Eskimeaux’s performance. The close-knit setting found the band in a comfortable mindset, laughing and engaging with the audience, even testing out new songs, jokingly referring to it as time for them to practice.
Eskimeaux’s set mainly pulled songs from its 2015 full-length “O.K.,” with the likes of “The Thunder Answered Back” and “I Admit I’m Scared.” As the songwriting and production project of Gabrielle Smith, particular lyrics throughout the set were enthralling as clever one liners exuded emotion.
On “Broken Necks” Smith passionately delivered the line, “While you were breaking your neck trying to keep your head up/ I was breaking my neck just to stick it out for you.”
Eskimeaux make a point to be prolific on social media, but in a different way than the evening’s other bands. Passionate about political and social discourse, the band spreads information and resources, and fundraise for organizations such as the ACLU by donating its music’s proceeds.
Whether by activism or dancing with the crowd, the bands made themselves at home at the College, if only for one night.
(03/16/17 8:55pm)
By Kimberly Ilkowski
Staff Writer
The last time Turnover played at the College was at the very loved, loud and now demolished Rathskeller in the Brower Student Center more than three years ago. To the handful of students in the audience then, it was just another night at the campus bar.
Who would have thought that after several years and a monstrously popular, genre-bending sophomore album the band would find itself back onstage for one of the biggest CUB Alt shows in recent memory?
Turnover played to a packed crowd along with openers Rhea and Peaer for another gig on CUB Alt’s stacked spring lineup on March 7 in the Decker Social Space.
New Jersey four-piece Rhea opened the show with its own brand of melodic indie. Although the set was rather short, the band’s sound complemented the others’ of the evening, making for a very cohesive lineup.
As up-and-comers in the scene, Rhea told the crowd that this was the biggest show the band had played to date and made the most of the final song by performing a heartfelt solo to round out the set.
As the self-proclaimed “one piece-turned-three-piece subtle math rock trio,” Peaer played songs from its recently released eponymous second record via Tiny Engines such as the single “Pink Spit.” The band also went back into older material from 2014’s “The Eyes Sink Into The Skull,” a home-recorded effort solely developed by singer and songwriter Peter Katz.
The addition of two new members has allowed the band a fuller sound, which helps old songs like “The Dark Spot” gain a new, sturdier feel. The members of Peaer were all smiles throughout the set, noticeably at ease with the crowd and enjoying the lengthy jams they would dive into mid-song.
Turnover wasted no time after getting onstage, going right into 2015’s “Peripheral Vision” opener “Cutting My Fingers Off,” rallying the crowd and even prompting a few crowd surfers. As the band cycled through all of the album favorites, it was interesting to see the band a bit out of its comfort zone.
Just a day earlier, Turnover wrapped a two-month touring cycle with emo heavyweights Circa Survive for the band’s 10-year anniversary of its monumental second album “On Letting Go.” Vocalist and guitarist Austin Getz spoke to the crowd about how the intimacy of the venue was not something they were used to anymore, but a small-scale show like this one was a nice way to end the band’s experience on the road.
The Virginia Beach, Va.-based band buzzed through a speedy rendition of “Take My Head” before settling back down into more mellow territory a la “Humblest Pleasures” off the record of the same name, as well as the night’s closing number “Dizzy On The Comedown,” one of the band’s standout tracks.
The evening’s crowd was a dedicated one — across the room people sang along to every word while some started a mosh pit in the middle of the crowd. Although a strange dichotomy between the band’s laid-back energy and the audience’s sudden jolt of life, this isn’t a new territory for the band. Turnover has been on several hardcore show lineups in its history, such as the Back To School Jam in Freehold, N.J., last September.
In an interview with The Signal, the band members credited their ease in these environments to growing up listening to hardcore music, despite their own music not reflecting the styles of the genre.
With a third album in the works, it’s worth noting the prolific rise in popularity “Peripheral Vision” attained, as it redefined the band’s sound and scope from pop punk to more melodic, washed out tones.
Turnover told The Signal that the band continued to experiment with new ideas, but kept true to what it created on “Peripheral Vision.” While the group admits they don’t take quite as big of a leap as they did from 2013’s “Magnolia” to “Peripheral Vision,” there’s still plenty of growth to be heard.
“I’d say it’s more dynamic,” Getz said. “There’s probably some songs that could fit ‘Peripheral Vision’ and there’s some that would definitely surprise you.”
The band also noted how inspiring it was to come back to the College to such a large and welcoming crowd. The fans’ strong support is something that has not been lost on the them.
“It’s been a wild ride for ‘Peripheral Vision,’” Getz said. “We’ve been touring for a long time and in the last two years, and the growth has been very quick and very large. We’ve been working hard for it, and we’ve been very lucky.”
(03/08/16 5:30pm)
This week, WTSR music staff member Kimberly Ilkowski highlights some of the best new albums that the College’s own radio station, 91.3 FM WTSR, puts into its weekly rotation.
Band: The Dirty Nil
Album: “Higher Power”
Hailing From: Hamilton, Ontario
Genre: Loud Wailing Rock
Label: Dine Alone Records
This album immediately rips open like a bat out of hell, starting at the first second with wailing guitars, distorted vocals and a damn catchy chorus on the track “No Weaknesses.” The Dirty Nil is a three-piece band from Canada and delivers a stellar debut album. “Higher Power” continually gains momentum with each song, with no sign of slowing down any time soon. The lyrics and the frontman’s vocals remind me of a grittier, angstier version of Cage the Elephant’s frontman Matt Shultz. These songs come in fast, demand your complete attention and then are gone before you even know it. This is a band you’ll want to keep on your radar this year.
Must Hear: “No Weakness,” “Zombie Eyed,” “Friends In The Sky” and “Bruto Bloody Bruto”
Band: I the Mighty
Album: “Connector”
Hailing From: San Francisco, Calif.
Genre: Throwback Emo
Label: Equal Vision
For an album released in 2016, “Connector” would have fit in perfectly during the heyday of emo’s commercial success 10 years earlier. I the Mighty have very clear emo, pop punk and, dare I say, screamo influences. This theatrical sophomore effort even features collaboration with Max Bemis of Say Anything, one of the biggest bands of the genre. The track “Friends” that he is featured on is one of the best on the album. This is really a nostalgia-heavy release. The band seems to have taken bits and pieces of genre greats — the thrashing guitars of A Day to Remember, the electronic elements that bands experimented with behind screaming vocals — and mixed them together, creating “Connector.”
Must Hear: “Psychomachia,” “Adrift,”
“Friends (featuring Max Bemis)” and “Andrew’s Song”
(03/08/16 5:23pm)
By Kimberly Ilkowski
Arts & Entertainment Editor
True to form, when feminist icon and social activist Gloria Steinem visited the College on Wednesday, March 2, she split her time evenly between lecturing and leading an open discussion of ideas among herself and those in attendance. After all, Steinem is no stranger to bringing people together in their beliefs.
A mother of three teenage daughters was the first to address Steinem with her question, who did so eagerly.
“I often find that while I raise (my daughters) to be strong, powerful women, I lack the words and the wisdom you may have to encourage them to continue your work,” she said. “Where does the next generation of females start?”
To which Steinem aptly replied, “Wherever the hell they want it to.”
This first event in the celebration of Women’s History Month offered a truly one-of-a-kind experience.
“We have something very special today, which is about an hour and a half together in this room with a combination of people that has never happened before in exactly the same way and will never happen again in exactly the same way,” Steinem said. “If all goes well, I hope each of us leaves here with some new ideas, new organizing tactics, a new feeling of support, some new friends, some new colleagues, something that makes our lives better and makes the world better.”
Steinem, who turns 82 this month, was utterly captivating throughout her lecture, somehow making it feel like an intimate conversation between friends.
If there’s one thing Steinem is always asked, it’s where the women’s movement has been and where it will go. According to Steinem, that’s like saying, “Describe the universe and give two examples.”
It only made sense, Steinem said, to talk about the ideologies of past societies in order to understand the present and where we need to go in the future.
“The southern tip of India, Kerala, was a matrilineal, and perhaps was one of the few, matriarchal cultures, which means that it is still the most democratic. It still has the highest rate of literacy in India, and higher than in many other countries in the world, because it didn’t have that fundamental division, artificial division into masculine and feminine,” Steinem said. “So, wherever we look in the world, we see how basic this is, and it’s so basic that we kind of assume it, like there’s oxygen in the air. We don’t stop to think that it could really be different.”
Through examples such as Kerala, as well as early Native American settlements and tribal studies which Steinem touched upon in her lecture, it becomes clear that this way of thinking isn’t all that challenging.
“We get caught into feeling that how it is human nature, that it’s inevitable, that there has to be a gender difference, that there has to be a racial difference, that there has to be, in many ways, a hierarchy,” Steinem said. “But the paradigm of most of human history was not a pyramid, not a hierarchy — it was a circle. We were connected as human beings and to all living things. We were linked, we were not ranked.”
With the 2016 presidential race in full swing, as well as a landmark abortion case in Texas hitting the Supreme Court on the very same day as Steinem’s lecture, it further put into context the bigger picture of various groups’ desire to control reproduction, which means controlling women’s bodies.
Steinem referenced “Sex and World Peace” by Valerie M. Hudson, a book she said was worthy of the audience’s attention for its studies of modern countries’ sources of violence.
“It concludes that the single biggest element of whether a country is violent inside itself or will be violent and use military violence against civilians is actually not poverty, not access to natural resources, not religion or even degree of democracy — it’s violence against females,” Steinem said. “It’s not even that female life is any more important than male life. (It’s) because the command to control reproduction is the first political command.”
Steinem praised the College and many schools like it for offering courses in women’s and gender studies, African American studies and Native American studies, all things she did not have access to as an undergraduate student in the 1950s.
“A part of the way we’re going forward is learning every day,” Steinem said. “Nothing is more important than what you’re doing here today and that you do have courses that begin to make everyone visible, that begin to say, ‘The division of masculine and feminine is just wrong.’ There’s human, there is not masculine and feminine.”
With deep contentment, Steinem looked back at the early days of her activism, proudly stating that what once was a handful of “crazies” has turned into a majority mindset on the major issues.
“All of our social justice movements are connected to each other,” Steinem said. “When a movement first starts, it is absolutely crucial that those who were invisible can become visible and name ourselves and say what the problems are and rise up and have a voice.”
As her lecture wound to a close, there was one last powerful message Steinem wanted to leave with the audience, and so she read the dedication to her most recent book, “My Life on the Road.”
She said: “Dr. John Sharpe of London who, in 1957, a decade before physicians in England could legally perform an abortion for any reason other than the health of the woman, took the considerable risk of referring for an abortion a 22-year-old American on her way to India.
“Knowing that she had broken an engagement at home to seek an unknown fate, he said, ‘You must promise me two things. First, you will not tell anyone my name. Second, you will do what you want to do with your life.’
“Dear Dr. Sharpe, I believe you, who knew the law was unjust, would not mind if I say this so long after your death: I’ve done the best I could with my life.
“This book is for you.”
(02/09/16 8:43pm)
By Kimberly Ilkowski
Arts & Entertainment Editor
They say don’t meet your heroes, but they certainly weren’t accounting for the grace and charm fans would encounter when meeting musician William Beckett. The former The Academy Is… frontman and current solo artist visited the College on Friday, Feb. 5, for an intimate acoustic performance in the Decker Social Space which gave longtime fans an opportunity for a candid and personal display from one of their favorite vocalists.
Opening the show was the Asbury Park, N.J., indie folk duo Accidental Seabirds, who soared through a medley of bohemian songs on their homemade instruments. From tambourines strung with fishing wire and bottle caps to self-created drum pedals, the band brought its soulful sound to students. Musicians Jesse Herdman and Alex Letizia are no strangers to the College, having performed just last February at the Rathskeller alongside A Great Big Pile of Leaves.
Main act Beckett flew in that morning from his hometown of Chicago and left the night open to wherever it took him, having no specific plans for what would be featured in his set. He started the evening with an impassioned cover of a slow Damien Rice track before picking up the pace with his own song, “Slip Away.” The much more upbeat song set the tone for the rest of the performance, but as Beckett admitted, offered lyrics that did not match the song’s happy tone.
Over the last several years, Beckett has released three EPs as well as one full-length album, “Genuine & Counterfeit,” in 2013. Off the album, Beckett played the track “Cracks In The Ceiling,” which he later revealed he performed at a wedding reception for a couple’s first dance. The couple was going through a rough patch and was about to call it quits when they happened to catch Beckett’s set one night and heard the song, with the chorus bouncing of, “Cause I can’t let you go, can’t watch you drift away. No matter what it takes, I’ll bring you back to shore.” It was only fitting then, after they decided to stay together, to invite Beckett to play the song that helped them rekindle their flame.
Beckett’s fanbase is certainly a special one, with many having followed him throughout his various musical projects. With a band as earnest and relatable in its teen angst as The Academy Is…, it comes as no surprise that, in a way, fans felt like they grew up with the band. Beckett shares in that sentiment.
“I’ve noticed a lot of old, familiar faces at my solo shows over the years that I remember were in the front row when we were playing Starland (Ballroom) with The Academy Is…,” Beckett told The Signal after the show.
His solo music has undoubtedly welcomed a new, emerging group of listeners, but it holds true that as listeners grew up with The Academy Is… the guys in the band grew with them as well.
After seeing success with his band and now his solo work, Beckett says no matter how he’s performing, working with others truly helps spark his creativity.
“I enjoy collaborations. A lot of times I’ll work with a friend or a producer friend that I know we (will) turn out good music together,” Beckett said. “The band truly was a collaboration. The Butcher’s (drummer Andy Mrotek) got songs that he wrote on the records and me and Mike (guitarist Carden) wrote everything else, so we were able to work well together.”
It’s been three years since Beckett released new music, but he promised that will change soon.
“The plan is this year,” Beckett said. “A lot of new and exciting stuff happening with my next step.”
No matter what this next step in his career may hold, there are dedicated fans that will be with him the whole way through.
(02/03/16 1:20am)
By Kimberly Ilkowski
Arts & Entertainment Editor
For many sophomores and juniors at the College, the pressure is on to score the perfect summer internship. The process can come across as daunting in the beginning with the countless cover letters to write and applications to fill out. One of the best ways to combat this fear is to just get started! Start anywhere, just to get your feet wet, and begin to understand what potential employers are looking for in their internship applicants. Once you get the ball rolling, you’ll be surprised by how efficiently you will be able to answer application questions and market yourself to companies.
During the internship hunt, it’s important to branch out and go for as many positions that suit your skills and interests as possible. You may find a position that you love right off the bat, but don’t limit yourself to just that internship. It’s extremely important to line up good backup options if you don’t get the internship for which you were hoping. Ending up with multiple offers will help alleviate a lot of stress and allow you to weigh your options more thoroughly.
Some of the best advice I’ve received on the matter came from my journalism advisor, who told me to not be afraid to go for the big internships, even the ones that seem a little out of my league. Once all of those doubts are taken out of the equation, many more possibilities open themselves up to you. There’s no sense in limiting yourself and your opportunities out of fear of rejection. You never know what may catch an employer’s eye or what you can bring to the table, no matter where it is.
The College also offers a lot of great resources to help guide students in the right direction. LionsLink offers up-to-date job and internship postings that can be tailored to your skill set from organizations across the U.S.
We also have the Career Center, which often hosts career and internships fairs as well as workshops for constructing resumes and being interviewed. The next installment of their career and internship fair will be held on Friday, Feb. 26, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Recreation Center.
So get out there, utilize our campus resources and land that internship!
(01/26/16 9:00pm)
By Michael Battista
Sports Editor
On Thursday, Jan. 14, actor Alan Rickman passed away at the age of 69 after a private six-month battle with pancreatic cancer. He was known as a hard, and sometimes evil, potions professor, a brilliant bank robber and a brutal sheriff who’d stop at nothing to apprehend a thief. Of course, he starred in a plethora of other roles.
But most of all, Rickman was an actor with an ability to bring a certain flair to any role he played, no matter how varied.
Rickman, born in the Acton area of London, England, was a graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA). After graduating in 1974, he began a theatrical career that included working with the prestigious Royal Shakespeare Company and was eventually invited to perform at the Edinburgh International Festival. Even after performing in productions such as “The Tempest” and “Love’s Labour’s Lost,” Rickman claimed he disliked his time with the group, saying he wished younger actors could have more time to develop.
His breakout role as Le Vicomte de Valmontin in the 1985 production of “Les Liaisons Dangereuses” earned him nominations for both a Tony Award and a Drama Desk Award. Rickman was then given his first big screen role in the film “Die Hard.” He played the terrorist Hans Gruber, opposite Bruce Willis’s hero cop character, John McClane.
The performance, which he did for low pay, earned Rickman critical acclaim and his character has been listed in the American Film Institute’s “100 years… 100 Heroes & Villains” list at number 46 for the top 50 villains of all time.
In a career that spanned over three decades, playing both memorable villains and romantic roles, Rickman’s most famous role came as the broody Professor Severus Snape in the “Harry Potter” film series. Author J.K. Rowling insisted on having Rickman for the part. So that he could better understand his character, Rowling actually told him a bit about Snape’s hidden past that wouldn’t be revealed to viewers until much later in the series.
“I didn’t really understand at first,” Rickman said in an interview on the Biography website. “It was information she hadn’t told anyone else, not even her sister, but it gave me what I needed to take on Snape.”
For his portrayal of the well-known character, Rickman once again garnered critical acclaim. The icy, sarcastic and humorless professor became a favorite for “Harry Potter” fans, no matter which side he was believed to be on.
Rickman lived a private life, marrying his longtime girlfriend Rima Horton in a quiet ceremony in 2012. He strived to help actors around the world by becoming an honorary president of the International Performer’s Aid Trust, which helps fight poverty around the world. In 1993, he was elected to the RADA council, acting as a vice chair, and in 2015, he joined the council’s Developmental Board.
Whether he was giving it his all on screen or helping the talent of tomorrow, Rickman’s impact on both the film and theatre industry is immeasurable. Finding the right words for a goodbye is far too difficult, but perhaps John McClane’s final line to Hans Gruber says it best.
“Happy trails, Hans.”
___________________________________________________________________________
By Kimberly Ilkowski
Arts & Entertainment Editor
When someone so full of life passes away, it’s hard to fully wrap your mind around the fact that they’re truly gone. When news broke of legendary English rock singer David Bowie’s passing on Sunday, Jan. 10, it was met with disbelief that such a transcending spirit would no longer be gracing us with his art — especially after his latest album “Blackstar” was released just two days prior on the singer’s 69th birthday. Bowie had been privately battling liver cancer over the last 18 months and according to a Wednesday, Jan. 13, Daily Telegraph article, “Bowie’s final record was a carefully-orchestrated farewell to his fans, his producer has confirmed.”
It’s no surprise that a man who released 25 albums in a career spanning nearly 50 years would transform his impending death into his final, and perhaps one of his finest, performances.
Fans turned out in droves to honor the late singer following the news of Bowie’s passing, with celebrations of his life and music popping up in London, New York, Los Angeles and everywhere in between.
Bowie’s unrivaled exuberance and taste for the extraordinary were captured by fans as they dressed up as the different personas he experimented with throughout his career. Many donned the famous red lightening bolt down their faces as Bowie did on his “Aladdin Sane” album cover.
Bowie helped shape the world around him with his progressive performances and knack for pushing the boundaries of what people are comfortable with. To talk about his impact on music is to also acknowledge his profound role in his listeners’ lives, helping fans find the confidence to be who they are.
In true, otherworldly Bowie fashion, a constellation in the shape of a lightening bolt was named in his honor, according to a Monday, Jan. 18, article on The Guardian.
Perhaps the Starman is finally home.
(12/01/15 9:05pm)
By Kimberly Ilkowski
Arts & Entertainment Editor
If Foo Fighters want fans around the world to know one thing, it’s that music has the power to unite us during our most challenging times.
Although the band has been working on new material since October and was teasing big news to fans via a mysterious countdown clock on the band’s official website, the message and purpose of its new five-song EP, entitled “Saint Cecilia,” has changed drastically.
Following the Friday, Nov. 13, attacks in Paris, where over 100 lives were lost during a shooting at an Eagles of Death Metal concert at the Bataclan, the community, the music industry and the world struggled to cope with the senseless act of violence that took place.
With the Foo Fighter’s latest release comes a renewed message of hope, discussed by frontman Dave Grohl in an open letter on the band’s website. The site also featured a link to The Sweet Stuff Foundation, which helps musical communities and their families during times of sickness and disability.
“‘The Saint Cecilia’ EP was put into motion… as a celebration of life and music,” Grohl wrote in the letter. “The concept being that, as our world tour drew to a close this week, we wanted to share our love of both with you in return for everything you have given us. Now, there is a new, hopeful intention that, even in the smallest way, perhaps these songs can bring a little light into this sometimes dark world. To remind us that music is life, and that hope and healing go hand in hand with song. That much can never be taken away.”
As fans eagerly waited for the clock to strike midnight on Monday, Nov. 23, when the countdown would reach its end, they were given just that — five stellar songs that sound like a time capsule of all the greatest periods in the band’s 20 year history.
The EP, which features collaborations with such artists as Gary Clark Jr, Preservation Hall Jazz Band and Ben Kweller, bursts to life with the ethereal rock opening track “Saint Cecilia.”
Reminiscent of the songs on its latest full-length release, “Sonic Highways,” “Saint Cecilia” offers the same grassroots lyricism found on key tracks of the album. The song takes inspiration from, yet certainly does not mimic, the song “Congregation,” which was recorded in Nashville, Tenn., with Zac Brown of the country group, Zac Brown Band. Both songs are instant anthems with booming instrumentals and catchy choruses.
The next track, “Sean,” would fit perfectly on the band’s first self-titled release, which featured the quick-paced grit that jump-started the band’s career. Although faster and more jerky, “Sean” has touches of the quirky lyricism of “Big Me” and could easily follow the album’s opening track “This Is A Call” in terms of musicality. The song breathes a youthful energy into the EP, especially with its mid-song breakdown, during which the band continually shouts “Sean!”
The EP’s third track, “Savior Breath,” keeps energy levels high as it displays the same urgency and anger felt on the band’s 2011 album “Wasting Light.” Similar thrashing guitars and wails are found on “Savior Breath” as on the older album’s “White Limo,” which is like a bullet train that rips through the airwaves.
“Iron Rooster” slows things down a bit a la much of the music on the band’s 2007 LP “Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace.” The constantly mellow song displays a quiet confidence, never feeling the need to puff out its chest to prove its worthiness on the track listing. Though the song doesn’t ever pick up its pace, it doesn’t need to, showing itself as one of the Foo’s smoothest jams.
The “Saint Cecilia” EP comes to a close with the song “Neverending Sigh,” which could easily find its home on the band’s 2002 album “One By One.” The band finishes strong with speedy, hard guitars and pounding drums. During the chorus, Grohl growls, “No one lets everyone in,” with the same menacing grip as heard in the opening lines of “All My Life.”
The EP is indeed a collection of once unfinished songs dug up from throughout the span the band’s career, some just months old while others date back decades. While each could fit well on previous Foo releases, the songs ultimately work together the best, creating a scrapbook of sorts showing just how much the band has evolved musically.
Like many other prominent artists, such as U2 and Prince, The Foo Fighters decided to cut its European tour short in the wake of the Paris attacks. That does not mean, however, that the band will back down from its message.
As Grohl closed his letter to fans, he stated, “We will return and celebrate life and love with you once again someday with our music. As it should be done.”
(10/20/15 11:08pm)
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By Kimberly Ilkowski
Arts & Entertainment Editor
New Jersey is notorious for being the most hated state in America, but if you ask Jack Antonoff, he’ll tell you otherwise. As the frontman of the powerhouse indie-pop group Bleachers, Antonoff pens paramount pieces with a central theme of his time growing up in New Jersey — a place he was glad to be performing in for the last show of the band’s touring cycle of their debut album, “Strange Desire.” Bleachers shined during their homecoming performance during the College Union Board’s 2015 fall concert on Saturday, Oct. 17, in Kendall Hall, joined by the lovable pop punkers Modern Baseball to open the show.
Styled in an outfit reminiscent of Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA” album cover, Antonoff and company stormed the stage with a soaring rendition of “Like a River Runs.”
Featuring two drummers on sleek metal kits and both a synth and a keyboard player on raised platforms, Antonoff stood confidently front and center while wailing on his guitar.
Audience favorites like “Shadow” and “Rollercoaster” had students singing along to every line while songs like the groovy “Wake Me” and arena anthemesque “Wild Heart” incited jumping, screaming and flailing from diehard fans.
Halfway through the hour-long set, the band launched into an unexpected but overwhelmingly satisfying cover of Fleetwood Mac’s 1977 hit “Go Your Own Way.” “I was born in the shadow, shadow of the city,” Antonoff crooned as the band performed a new, unreleased track entitled “Shadow of the City” about growing up in New Jersey with the powerful presence of New York City looming in the distance.
The song “You’re Still A Mystery” evolved into an epic display of solo performances, while each member of band went wild on their instruments. Following the solos, Antonoff and saxophonist Evan Smith engaged in a heated duel, with a back-and-forth exchange between the two musicians shredding on their respective instruments. As the end of the battle drew near, Antonoff and Smith slid across the stage and collapsed on the floor, but did not stop playing the guitar and saxophone.
After the explosive finale, the band ran off stage while students’ chants for an encore rang through the room.
When Bleachers finally reemerged from backstage, they opted for a slow jam and played a beautifully stripped down version of Kanye West’s “Only One,” which climaxed in a soulful saxophone breakdown.
Antonoff sweetly sang “Hello my only one, remember who you are. No, you’re not perfect, but you’re not your mistakes,” while a sea of students swayed to the strumming of his guitar and shone their phone flashlights in lieu of lighters.
In stark contrast to the mellow atmosphere created by “Only One,” Antonoff proceeded to plead with the crowd to give the band’s final song everything they had and to “tear this place to the ground,” before he launched into their first hit single “I Wanna Get Better.”
Bleachers’ success may have initially begun with the massive popularity of “I Wanna Get Better,” but the band hasn’t stopped there, as it now boasts a major list of accomplishments.
Last month, Antonoff released a companion album to Bleacher’s debut LP “Strange Desire” entitled “Terrible Thrills Volume 2,” where each song was performed and reimagined by female artists.
“I made a pretty concise list and the list I made was pretty much who it ended up being because (they’re all) people I’m really inspired by either because I know them and I’ve worked with them or just because I really love their work,” Antonoff said in an interview with The Signal about the process of matching each song with its new performer. “It has to be someone who it really means a lot to me to think about when I write because that’s what’s really connected about it for me.”
Antonoff also tried his hand at festival planning this year with the creation of Shadow of the City, a one-day music festival that took place on Saturday, Sept. 19, in Asbury Park, N.J. The festival, meant to honor Antonoff’s home state, featured eight bands, food trucks, arcade games and more in a day dedicated to all things Jersey.
“This first year was such a great experience that we want to just look at everything that went well and look at this feeling that was created and just maintain that,” Antonoff said about plans for next year’s festival.
There was no shortage of excitement for the concert’s opening act, Modern Baseball, who helped warm up the crowd with their own brand of punchy pop hooks and tongue-twisting lyrics. The Philly rockers, composed of vocalists and guitarists Brendan Lukens and Jake Ewald, drummer Sean Huber and bassist Ian Farmer, played a dynamic set of songs from their full lengths “Sports” and “You’re Gonna Miss It All,” as well as two new singles.
The band began the night with “Re-do” and “Tears Over Beers,” both off of “Sports,” before progressing into newer favorites like the self-deprecating “Fine, Great” and bouncy guitar jam “Broken Cash Machine,” from their sophomore effort “You’re Gonna Miss It All.”
They also played the track “Alpha Kappa Fall Of Troy The Movie Part Deux” from a six-way split on Philadelphia’s Lame-O Records released earlier this year entitled “Strength In Weakness,” which also included acts like Spraynard and Marietta.
Modern Baseball’s bursting 13 song set also included a cover of The Killers’ “When You Were Young” which put bassist Farmer in the spotlight singing lead vocals. The punk version of the 2006 hit was a highlight of the night, with the audience singing in unison almost as loudly as Farmer.
The band’s performance of “Redone” was the perfect showcase of their infamous angst-ridden lyrics, filled with references to a twenty-something-year-old’s melodrama. The song concluded with the impassioned singing, “They just think we are young with broken hearts, stomping around everyday, so let’s stomp around breaking, young at heart all the way.”
Beginning at the end of this month, the band will embark on a massive winter tour, traveling coast to coast with Tiny Moving Parts, Jeff Rosenstock and PUP. With another tour comes more opportunities to share new songs and continue to work on new material.
“We’ve all just honed in on how we want to sound, at least for now, and how it’ll make the band sound better in general,” Lukens said in an interview with The Signal.
Modern Baseball has slowly released new songs in the past several weeks but an official third full-length record has yet to be announced. Instead of rushing to put out a new album, the band is taking their time on the road as an opportunity to have fun and play with bands that inspire them.
According to Ewald, extensive touring has helped the members discover their own strengths and desires for the band’s direction, and everyone agrees the process has helped them grow.
“We came home (from tour last year) and we all played in other bands too, which is like a whole new perspective on things, and so when we went back to MoBo, it was just kind of like we had a better understanding of what we were trying to accomplish,” Farmer said.
Thanks to our friends at LTV for filming the interviews.
(10/06/15 8:40pm)
By Kimberly Ilkowski
Arts & Entertainment Editor
In the early 1970s, Soledad O’Brien posed for a family photo on the front lawn of her home in the suburbs of Long Island, dressed head-to-toe in polyester stripes and sporting a thick afro. Her black and Cuban mother, white and Australian father and five equally afroed brothers and sisters were not the picture of the average American family at the time.
No matter how much they tried, the O’Brien family did not blend into the exclusively white community where they lived, yet it allowed Soledad to realize something much greater about herself and her upbringing.
“It taught me that you didn’t have to be accepted,” O’Brien said. “You didn’t necessarily have to go with what everyone else was doing and how they were doing it. You could decide the life you were going to lead and you could be successful if you had the guts to do it.”
Ever since, the award-winning journalist, documentarian and producer has forged her own path in the industry, sharing personal stories of her journey to tackle the less publicized issues of America during her lecture, “Diversity: On TV, Behind the Scenes and In Our Lives,” at the College on Wednesday, Sept. 30, in Kendall Hall.
After a multitude of anchor and correspondent positions including CNN, HBO and Al Jazeera America, O’Brien is now focusing her sights on Starfish Media Group, an organization she founded that is known for highlighting individuals’ lives in the hopes to empower viewers and bring to light issues of race, class, poverty, opportunity and more.
According to O’Brien, only 1 percent of all news stories are about Latinos, with most of those stories focusing on illegal immigration and crime.
“A journalist’s responsibility is to look at the issue in the context of what the issue really is,” O’Brien said in an interview with The Signal. “While there is a lot of conversation around immigration, if you look at the voting block, which is a very important voting block, their big issue is not immigration. Reporters need to look further and not just cover the immigration story as the easy thing to do.”
Latinos make up roughly 17 percent of the U.S. population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, yet rarely any news coverage is dedicated to issues that are relevant to their interests.
“You would think every Latino across America goes home at night and all they’re talking about at their dining room table is immigration,” O’Brien said about the media’s misrepresentation of Latino’s core issues.
With an air of confidence and grace, O’Brien candidly recalled her time growing up in a biracial home, her experiences in the newsroom and her most recent venture as a documentarian.
“I learned the most as a reporter on documentaries whether it was ‘Gay In America,’ ‘Muslim in America,’ ‘Latino in America,’ (or) ‘Black in America,’” O’Brien said in her lecture. “As a journalist, it offered an opportunity to have a conversation that we as a country weren’t having. You could tell an in-depth and granular story about a community, (but) if you left out communities, then you really couldn’t tell the story of America very well or fair, (and) certainly not a story that was nuanced and authentic and novel.”
In O’Brien’s eyes, trying to engage these conversations and tell everyone’s story was not a fleeting chance to expand viewership.
“You created trust if you were willing to have uncomfortable stories about real issues, if you were willing to say, ‘Some of these things are what people are really talking about and we’re not going to whitewash it. We’re going to talk about it frankly and openly, undergirded with fact,’” O’Brien said.
Journalists must take particular care in the ways they speak about their subjects, as language has a profound impact on viewer’s understanding of the news. Oftentimes, a particular word or phrase that is rooted in a racist or classist stigma can alter the viewer’s perception of a story.
“It is really important, the words we use to describe people, and (using) ‘thug’ does matter,” O’Brien told The Signal. “We use ‘thug’ very specifically. We don’t use thug for some people (and) we have to ask ourselves why. When you do (use the word), you dehumanize people. As a reporter, it’s terrible because it’s not descriptive. It’s really important to think about the ways you describe people so that your words have a use.”
O’Brien noted that there are many code words in the media that differentiate those from disparate backgrounds.
“‘Oh, she grew up in the ghetto, her mom is a crack addict and her dad is an alcoholic,’” O’Brien said, referring to the initial characterization of Glorious Menefee by producers on “Black In America.” “But that’s not Glorious. Clearly she came from a very dysfunctional family, no one would deny that, but I would never describe a friend through what their parents do or how they are.”
O’Brien believes this descriptive tactic is atypical when speaking about the middle class youth. While they are often imbued with phrases that highlight their passions and goals, children living in poverty get the shorthand.
O’Brien also touched on the racial climate of Baltimore, Md., in 1958 when her parents first met.
They would both attend a daily Mass, and each day, her father would offer to give her mother a ride to church. For months she turned him down until finally she said yes and agreed to go on a date.
They planned to go out to dinner, but every restaurant they went to turned them away because, as her mother said, “interracial dating was frowned upon.”
When O’Brien asked what she meant by “frowned upon,” her mother responded, “You could get shot.”
Undeterred by those around them, her mother and father decided to get married in Washington, D.C., as interracial marriage was illegal in Maryland where they lived, as well as 16 other states.
O’Brien recounted a moment when she asked her mother what it was like walking around the streets of Baltimore in the early 1960s with her toddlers. Her mother responded, “Lovey, they used to spit on us.”
Shocked by this statement, O’Brien asked what she would do about it. “Nothing,” her mother said. “We knew America was better than that.”
Those words would eventually frame for O’Brien all the reasons she became a reporter.
“This idea that they knew their existence could move towards a change and they still loved America but they were intent on living the lives that they wanted to live and making change along the way,” O’Brien said. “There is a special bravery in deciding that you’re going to sit firmly on the right side of history (and) my parents were my very first example of forging on, even though people around you are saying no. They knew, despite the judgments of others, that in the way they lived their lives — they lived with dignity and respect for others — that eventually, people would follow.”
(09/09/15 6:45pm)
By Kimberly Ilkowski Arts & Entertainment Editor
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With a surge of energy, a sea of students, faculty and community members entered the College’s latest art exhibition, “Fluctuations,” where waves of attendees filled the room to the brim — only for them to recede in anticipation of the next tide of guests.
Showcasing ever-evolving artistic landscapes through faculty artwork, the College’s Art Gallery held an opening reception on Wednesday, Sept. 2, with an accompanying concert by Brooklyn-based jazz-fusion trio Moon Hooch.
This ebb and flow dynamic was the pivotal idea behind “Fluctuations,” highlighting the changing practices between analog and digital technologies as well as contemplative and interactive art experiences.
In conjunction with the College’s own academic theme this year of “change,” the gallery featured work by 14 faculty members including Anita Allyn, Josh Brilliant, Chung Chak, Dickie Cox, Belinda Haikes, Kenneth Kaplowitz, Kyle LoPinto, Elizabeth Mackie, William Nyman, JordanRathus, Philip Sanders, Marcia Taylor, Liselot van der Heijden and Mauro Zamora.
“As professors of the art at the College, these dedicated faculty members not only instruct students in art, they must be fully engaged with contemporary art and with their own art making practices,” Art Gallery Director Emily Croll quoted in a program.
The exhibition featured different mediums, including animation, digital photography, archival prints and video. Some faculty members looked beyond the canvas or T.V. screen and opted to construct objects from scratch. LoPinto’s “Long Hammer,” is a 94-inch creation of steel, foam and tape while Mackie’s “Whispering Mountains” is a floating cloud brought to life with tulle, chicken wire and audio.
Another intriguing facet to the gallery was Cox’s “Contact,” a mixed media installation that utilized interactive animation created with Processing, Syphon, electronics and human touch. When visitors puts their hand on the pedestal, the wall opposite of them lights up in a bullseye of neon colors.
The use of video was prevalent — some attendees waited for a chance to grab a pair of headphones and watch Rathus’ 16-minute long “No Comment” video, while others were drawn in by the subtle emotions on display in van der Heijden’s “Untitled (Study Face to Face)” single channel loop of a woman in a crowd.
While “Untitled” explores the idea of art looking back at its audience, a second video, “Homage to John Berger,” played next to it.
“The title is derived from John Berger, the renowned author of the famous project ‘Ways of Seeing,’ that raises questions about hidden ideologies in visual images and western art,” van der Heijden said.
Filmed at the Louvre in Paris, the side-by-side screenings offered an interesting insight.
“When I played the two works together I discovered unexpected connections between (them) — the female gaze staring back at the viewer and the stillness of the subject in relation to the moving crowds that surround it,” van der Heijden said. “The combination of the two works speaks to what connects the past and the present, and to what happens inside the video image and outside the image — in the gallery space where we, the audience, are located.”
Following the opening reception, members of the art community ventured to the Art and Interactive Multimedia Courtyard for an outdoor performance by Moon Hooch.
Comprised of Wenzl McGowen on saxophone and contrabass clarinet, Mike Wilbur on saxophone and vocals and James Muschler on drums, the trio launched into a power set of hypnotic dance jams.
The self-proclaimed “cave music” band formed in 2010 and gained popularity with impromptu performances at subway stops throughout New York City.
The band flawlessly fused bluesy riffs with electronic dance music beats that led everyone in the audience to feverishly anticipate what would be played next. Each song seemed to bleed into the next, blazing with vitality and unparalleled skill.
McGowen changed instruments throughout the night, going from tenor and baritone saxophone to an electronic wind instrument synthesizer that provided zany additions to the songs.
To begin and end their set, Moon Hooch utilized unconventional items to alter the sounds of their instruments, such as PVC tubes and traffic cones.
The unusual nature of their sound pulled students in and was a fitting way to end a night of celebrating the diverse advancements of art on display in the art gallery.
(05/07/15 11:43pm)
By Kimberly Ilkowski
Features Editor
The final issue of the Spring 2003 semester featured a heartfelt confession on the struggles of transitioning into junior year. Sports Editor John Kell wrote to let freshmen and sophomores know that it is never too late to get involved and get the most out of your time here at the College. As our own semester comes to a close, it is an important reminder to stay motivated and positive.
I hate those articles/opinions about reflection. I don’t think that much can be learned by them, but here I go trying not to reflect too much. I’ve been asked to write about something that I have been saying for weeks, the difference between a sophomore and a junior.
Sophomore year was an amazing year. I went to countless concerts, semi-formals, formals, date parties, frat parties, house parties, Broadway shows and nightclubs.
In one weekend, I ended up partying or going to events in four different cities (Philadelphia, New York, Camden and Trenton — I didn’t say they were all good cities.)
Sophomore year in college is the year you start thinking like a college student and finally leave that high school mentality behind you. But I don’t think that sophomore year is the real year of truth.
Junior year is hard. Any junior in college can tell you that this is the year that really counts.
When my sophomore friends ask me what junior year is like I tell them to imagine how hard their junior year in high school was, (by far the worst year in high school), and multiply that to the college level. At times, it’s that bad.
Junior year is the year that I finally realized the reason that I was at college. I joined SGA and the staff of The Signal. I got two new jobs — hall security worker and another at the Gap.
I realized that I had been wasting my time during my sophomore year — time that I had to make up this year. My resume sucked and I realized that without hard work and experience, I wouldn’t get any internship let alone any job that I applied for.
Now I’m busting my ass and attempting to make up for it.
Last semester, as any of my friends can tell you, I didn’t party much because I had to budget my time to the minute. I was working over 30 hours a week between my three jobs on top of being a full-time student. It wasn’t always fun but I grew up to be the man I am today.
I have to say that in retrospect, I was just a boy before that. if anything, junior year has taught me that I am ready for the internship and the eventual job I hope to get.
It taught me that I can move off campus senior year and balance my life and finances better when I’m off on my own. I think I’m ready to move away from home after college and if I get an opportunity to move away from the east coast or even further, I would have to take it.
So what am I trying to say in this opinion? I guess I’m saying that if you are reading this, it’s not too late to get involved.
It’s not too late to do all the things you saw yourself doing in college and it’ll never be too late to grow up to become a better person then you were yesterday.
(04/30/15 4:43pm)
By Kimberly Ilkowski
Features Editor
Dan “Soupy” Campbell began his two-day residency at the College playing an intimate, acoustic set in the Rathskeller with his solo project Aaron West and the Roaring Twenties on Friday, April 24. The following night, however, Campbell took a complete 180, bursting with energy as he performed with his band The Wonder Years during CUB’s Spring Concert.
The dramatic difference in each act clearly showcased the lead singer’s versatility and mastery of the genre. When Campbell performs in Aaron West and the Roaring Twenties, he quite literally becomes Aaron West — embodying the new persona with all his trials and tribulations.
As he strummed his acoustic guitar for the large gathering of students at the Rat, Campbell spoke openly and genuinely in character as West about how his wife left him and the dreaded aftermath that followed.
This storyline is the heart of Aaron West and the Roaring Twenties’ 2014 concept album, “We Don’t Have Each Other.” Campbell’s lyrics and melodies often offered a chilling effect due to their sincerity, further blurring the line between the two men.
“There’s a ton of media out there that can make us emotional without being real,” Campbell said after the show. “Just knowing loss and translating loss, it’s not that hard when you think about it. Most fiction can make us feel.”
Between songs, Campbell told anecdotes that prefaced the next track, whether it was about his mom’s reaction to his suffering (“Aaron, take the car and run”) or a stranger’s wisdom (“I felt like I was hitting rock bottom every six months when a homeless man told me it would get better.”)
With lyrics that echoed the aching of Aaron West like the opening lines, “And it hurts like a sunburn/ wakes me up from a deep sleep” found on the track “Get Me Out of Here Alive,” emotions ran high in the audience.
Other songs performed included, “Runnin’ Scared,” “The Thunderbird Inn” and “You Ain’t No Saint,” in which he earnestly chants, “you ain’t no saint and I ain’t one either.”
Although the other members of the band were absent from the night’s performance, they’re all in the early stages of developing their second concept album, one in which Campbell has already scripted the next part of the drama.
“The story has only just begun,” he said.
It was a humbling experience for opening act Watermedown to take the Rat stage before one of his idols.
As the solo project of singer and guitarist Jonny Mays, he shared a similar sentiment with the crowd of die-hard fans.
“Dan Campbell has touched my life, and I’m sure he’s touched many of the lives in here as well,” Mays said during his set.
Mays played a variety of songs from his EPs “Except/ Accept Yourself” and “Perfect Is Pointless,” as well as new material he has been working on with Buffalo, N.Y. band Head North.
These songs and many more will be featured on his upcoming, month-long tour which will take him up and down the east coast.
Mays successfully set the tone of the evening with his own brand of intensely impassioned music, often times stepping away from the microphone to yell as hard as he could before diving right back into the surge of his turbulent sea.
(04/29/15 11:37pm)
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By Kimberly Ilkowski & Jonathan Edmondson
Features Editor & Arts & Entertainment Editor
What would a Paramore concert be without fiery-haired frontwoman Hayley Williams giving her all to incite a riot in her always-packed audiences? It wasn’t hard to get the crowd jumping along to their favorite angst-ridden, middle-school songs and new hits alike at CUB’s 2015 spring concert featuring opening act The WonderYears on Saturday, April 25, in the REC Center.
The show had been a long time coming — Paramore’s name had been tossed around before as a potential option for a show at the College. This spring, many students watched their fantasies come to life as their favorite band sprung on-stage to the slick bass-line of “Daydreaming” to start off its wild and diverse set.
“Tonight kind of feels like a family reunion,” Williams said to the crowd, many of whom have been along for the ride since the very beginning.
While the band incorporated much of their newer material into the set, it made sure to play the older songs that started it all like “That’s What You Get” off the 2007 album “Riot!” that launched Paramore into the hearts and minds of teens everywhere.
July will mark the 10th anniversary of the release of Paramore’s debut album “All We Know Is Falling,” yet it’s clear Williams has only gotten better with age. Her stage presence is unprecedented, and her connection with the fans was clear during her many moments of personal storytelling between songs.
The show at the College marked the band’s third concert of the year and one that begins the final tour in support of their self-titled album, released in the spring of 2013.
The album, which was certified gold and produced the hit singles “Ain’t It Fun” and “Still Into You,” was the first full-length release for the band following the controversial departure of long-time members Josh and Zac Farro in 2010.
The band’s official lineup now includes Williams on lead vocals, Taylor York on lead guitar and background vocals and Jeremy Davis on bass.
Whether it was Williams’s 100-watt smile or the intricate lighting that graced the stage, featuring old-fashion spotlights and dangling light bulbs, the band dazzled the crowd throughout the evening.
A large part of Paramore’s allure undoubtedly stems from their frontwoman, whose voice seemingly transcends genre. This range was evident as Williams went from belting “Twilight”-inspired rock ballad “Decode” to sweetly harmonizing to an acoustic love-jam “The Only Exception.”
This switch in tone ignited diverse responses from the audience, but whether they were moshing or swaying, the packed crowd was loving every second of the band’s performance.
Die-hard Paramore fans were treated to lesser-played jams such as “I Caught Myself” and “(One Of Those) Crazy Girls.” Both songs were met with enthusiastic responses from the crowd.
Earlier this year Paramore won a Grammy for Best Rock Song with “Ain’t It Fun,” yet the band remains humble and appreciative of their hardcore fanbase. Throughout the night, Williams interacted with the crowd and thanked them for their relentless support.
Before Paramore hit the stage, Philly-based, pop-punk band The Wonder Years came out swinging for an epic opening set that energized those who weren’t previously familiar with the band. The band is comprised of Dan “Soupy” Campbell on vocals, Matt Brasch and Casey Cavaliere on guitar, Mike Kennedy on drums, Josh Martin on bass and Nick Steinborn on keyboard. The guys played songs from their entire discography, including “There, There” and “Passing Through a Screen Door” from their latest studio album “The Greatest Generation.”
Campbell led the performance by romping around the stage, swinging the microphone and yelling lyrics such as, “cigarette smoke dances in the window / and I can see the haze on the dome light / I’m conjuring ghosts on a forty-hour ride home,” which highlighted the band’s palpable emotions and clearly demonstrated their commitment to storytelling.
Paramore also focused on intimate storytelling during the acoustic set of their performance, where Williams was able to pour her heart out during songs like “Misguided Ghosts.”
And although Paramore hits such as “Crushcrushcrush” and “Brick By Boring Brick” were omitted from their setlist, the band was able to infuse much of their material into their impressive two-hour performance.
Per usual, Williams invited a member of the crowd onstage to sing the end of “Misery Business” with her. The lucky audience member, Michelle, was decked out in head-to-toe Paramore merchandise and took the stage with a confident swagger. Williams handed Michelle her own microphone as the two sang the chorus, but not before snagging a quick selfie together.
The band capped their set with “Ain’t It Fun,” which had everyone in the audience jumping and belting their hearts out.
With a quick “goodnight!” Williams and the band left the stage, causing the audience to begin shouting, “one more song.”
After a brief respite, the cylinder lights scattered around the stage began to light up one-by-one in the darkness. As the stage started to illuminate, the crowd broke out into wild cheers for “Future.” For those unfamiliar with the song, it came as a surprise that the band would wrap up the night with a quiet, acoustic track. Yet Williams’s haunting wails transitioned into an epic, six-minute outro with pulsating bass-lines, gritty guitars and thundering drums accompanied by a spectacular light show, washing the audience in rainbow colors.
With one final bow, the band quickly exited the stage as the lights slowly dimmed and the audience broke out into wild cheers.
Paramore, a band started by a couple of teenagers from Franklin, Tenn., has been through a lot over their expansive 10-year career. Yet the trio seems to have finally found a solid ground to stand upon, building a legacy brick by not-so-boring brick.
(04/23/15 4:27am)
By Kimberly Ilkowski
Features Editor
Just when you thought you beat the Sophomore Slump, Senior Spring is waiting for you right around the corner. It seems impossible to get any work done with the promise of graduation and summer on the horizon. In the December 1, 1987, edition of The Signal, Patty O’Connor wrote of how the path to graduation isn’t always as easy as everyone makes it seem.
First, you graduate from high school. Next you attend the college of your choice, and pick a major that will lead to a fabulous and exciting career. Four wonderful years go by. The next thing you know, you are walking across Quimby’s Prairie and are handed a diploma that will surely be your one-way ticket to success.
For many Trenton State students, it’s not easy. All the things they’ve hoped for count for nothing when they find themselves on the verge of failing out.
Lisa, a senior business major, may be one of those students. (Lisa and her roommate Kathy are both fictitious names.) “When you first start college, all you can think about are the great things you’re going to accomplish,” Lisa said. “I thought it would be easy. I guess I wasn’t prepared for how difficult it was going to be.”
Lisa came to Trenton State College in the fall of 1984. She had graduated 11th in a class of 194, and earned an A-B average all through high school. She was a member of the honor society, and lettered in varsity track. She chose Trenton State because of all the good things she’d heard about the division of business here.
“I picked my major on the basis of one business course I took in twelfth grade — I thought it was interesting,” she said. “An uncle of mine is an accountant, and he really encouraged me to pursue a career in the field of business. So, I jumped right in.”
In her freshman year, Lisa took a few introductory business courses, as well as the usual liberal arts courses. Her first-semester grade-point average was a 3.2. In the spring semester of that year, she pledged a sorority.
“That was a big mistake,” she said. “I was so busy with all the pledge activities, I didn’t have time to study. My GPA went down to 2.8, and I’ve never been able to bring it back up again.”
Her average continued to drop through her sophomore year. “A close friend of mine died that September, and it really upset me. I couldn’t concentrate on work at all,” Lisa said.
And, by then, I was taking more and more business courses and getting in deeper and deeper. But I still thought I could buckle down and do well.”
By her junior year, Lisa was on academic probation. her GPA was 2.0. In November, right as she was starting to study for finals, she broke her hand, making it very difficult to study. “The pain was ridiculous, and the pressure of finals made it worse,” she said. As a result, she failed a course that was a requirement for her major.
Lisa began her senior year with a GPA of 1.96 and the School of Business requires a 2.5 for graduation. She is on academic probation again, and is taking 15 credits. In order to graduate next spring, Lisa will have to take a full load of 18 credits — but only if her advisor will allow her.
“I have to pass the class I failed last year,” she said. “So far, I’m not doing too great. If I don’t get a C or better, my advisor will only let me take 12 credits, and that won’t be enough to let me walk in May.”
As she talked, Lisa lit a cigarette and picked up her varsity track letter, which hangs on her wall. She stared at it for a moment, then frowned.
“It’s so easy to rattle off excuses for myself,” she said. “I really should have seen this coming, but I didn’t. I kept thinking, hey, I’ve got another year to turn it around. But I can’t say that anymore.”
Lisa remains optimistic. She can see a light at the end of the tunnel, she says, and it’s getting closer every day. “That’s my prime motivation,” she said. “Graduation will be here soon, whether I’m part of it or not.”
Lisa’s advice to underclassmen comes from experience. “Even though it seems like graduating seems far away, it gets here sooner than you think,” she said. “Doing well now when it seems like it’s for nothing will make being a senior that much easier and enjoyable when you get there.”
(04/15/15 4:30am)
By Kimberly Ilkowski
Features Editor
If you thought this year’s group of freshmen were wild partiers, you must have not heard about the freshmen class on campus in 1974. In the September 25, 1974 edition of The Signal, staff writer J. Stryker Meyer wrote a front-page story on a massive rager that was shut down in Travers Hall after hundreds of students and outsiders flooded the building, often illegally. Thursday nights were notorious as the wild party night on campus, and word spread like wildfire, resulting in the outrageous final party.
“There’ll be no more beer parties on the third floor of Travers this year,” said the Resident Director of the Travers-Wolfe dormitory complex, Fred Worsfold.
This action was taken after some students on the third floor held an illegal beer party, charging an admission fee of $.75 for men and $.25 for women, in a party where 200-250 people were “floating through it,” according to Signal sources.
The illegal party, held last Thursday night, was also a contributing factor to an invasion of the Travers-Wolfe complex by some 500-700 outsiders, according to Signal sources. A student working at the desk estimated that approximately 300 outsiders were registered at the desk, in accordance with dorm regulations.
Outsiders tried to break down the iron guard gates which blocked the staircases in the basement of Travers. When the outsiders found they couldn’t break it they tore apart the gate support structure in the ceiling. They then crawled over the structure to get into the building, according to Signal sources. “A lot of damage is done by people who don’t even live here (Travers-Wolfe),” said Worsfold.
Other outsiders climbed up to the second floor roof of Travers and climbed through the corridor window to gain access into the building. Another student had six males open her first floor window and tell her they were only going to the party and not to be upset.
The outsiders will “do anything to get into the dorms on Thursday nights,” said the Signal source. “That night has become a party night and apparently word is getting out about the parties in the dorms.”
A student told The Signal, “Thursday night is the biggest rip-off night of the week. People just walk around in the halls looking for open rooms and are taking whatever they can. Others are just looking for some fun. The problem is we can’t tell the difference.”
This invasion of outsiders on Thursday nights, causes a lot of Security problems. Last Thursday, Security had to have four extra men in the towers while four extra student workers were added to the normal shift to help control the traffic.
“TSC students really hassle Security by letting non-residents into the dorm. What happens is, residents aren’t concerned enough about their own safety. The non-residents hurt the entire operation of the dorm, especially the Security and housekeeping of the dormitories,” said Worsfold.
(04/11/15 6:36pm)
By Kimberly Ilkowski
Features Editor
With campus recently full of touring prospective and accepted students, it is a reminder that a new class of students will soon take over the College. Every year the College welcomes a well-rounded and diverse incoming class. The September 17, 1965 edition of the State Signal aimed to welcome the new freshman and highlighted the amount of students enrolled in each education major.
Although the College offers much more diverse course offerings, education has always had a special place in heart of the school. That emphasis has been clear since 1965.
It is an interesting insight into how important the education route was in the early days of the College, as well as how selective it continues to be, by only accepting 817 freshman out of 4,900 applicants.
817 freshmen have arrived on the Trenton State campus. These students were selected from the 4900 applications received from all over the state.
The elementary curriculum is the largest freshman section with 217 students. Following are kindergarten-primary with 109 students, women health and physical education with 69, industrial education and technology with 66, mathematics with 55, music with 46, business education with 45 and English with 42. The breakdown in the other majors is: male health and physical education, 36; special education, 32; science, 32; social studies, 28; speech arts, 16; speech correction, 13 and special education for the deaf, 11.
(04/01/15 10:44pm)
By Kimberly Ilkowski
Features Editor
In the December 17, 1985 issue of The Signal, Features Editor Barbara Preston explored the archives to reflect on the newspaper’s very first issue, which was distributed 100 years ago that month.
In December, 1885, the very first issue of The Signal was published by the Thencanic Society of the Model School in more of a literary magazine format than that of a newspaper.
The contents were written in an editorial style that was opinionated and biased. In a formal and stiff language, the editorials reported on issues such as: Mental culture and athletics, the literary societies of our school and the lecture course.
Trenton State College, then known as the Normal School, was established by the Legislature for the sole purpose of educating teachers for the public schools of New Jersey. Tuition was free to all students who pledged that they would teach at least for two years in this state.
Thirty years after the establishment of the Normal School, the first collegiate weekly newspaper in the state of New Jersey and the fourth oldest in the nation, was established in the form of The Signal.
The Signal was published as the official newspaper for the state colleges with intentions to report on all issues of interest that would appertain to those colleges. Instead of reporting the news it acted as a bulletin board listing current events and activities.
Students of the Normal School were to be The Signal’s editors and contributors, united in the common cause of education.
In the more dramatic words from the first issue of The Signal, it reads, “Our duty will be to encourage commendable efforts in scholastic pursuits, to help the weak and lead the blind, and to wield the rod of censure with effect, but not with a judicious discrimination.
This was a rather simple task in which, perhaps, the hardy editors and reporters of the New York Times have not faltered. But. reach for the stars and you may touch the moon. And it got The Signal on to its feet.
The Signal received a few encouraging words from the established newspaper in the state.
“It is an admirable school paper in every respect. We wish it a large measure of success.” - Trenton Times.
(04/01/15 10:32pm)
By Kimberly Ilkowski
Features Editor
Four local bands left it all on the stage at CUBRat and WTSR’s annual Battle of the Bands competition held in the Rathskeller on Tuesday, March 24, shredding, pounding and singing like they never have before.
North Jersey progressive metal band The Great Airport Mystery took home the night’s coveted title, earning their album high rotation on the College’s radio station.
Comprised of Ryan Gilpatrick on vocals, John Kennedy on guitar, Brian Heitman on bass and Mike Guevarez on drums, the band quickly transformed the atmosphere of the room from the previous acts. As the night’s last performers, the band exuded energy, embodied by Gilpatrick’s wild stage persona. Nothing was off limits, including jumping off the stage and running through the rows of tables, sitting on barriers and swinging the microphone around, Adam Lazzara style.
The band performed tracks off their February released EP “Voyager” as well as the full-length “The Great Spaceport Mystery,” both of which are concept albums.
“Our first record was about the origins of humanity and space exploration,” Gilpatrick said, who admitted to being heavily inspired by the days of watching Star Wars VHS tapes. “Now our EP continues that story.”
The band of high school friends plans to release an acoustic EP this summer and hope to play as many shows as possible in the upcoming month.
“It just feels fantastic. I wasn’t expecting it,” Gilpatrick said on the band’s first place win. “There was a lot of talent in here, and our style is a bit different. It’s not the same (type of) music, so I’m glad people could embrace it and have them see the passion we put into it. The audience seemed to get into it as much as we got into it.”
The rest of the night’s performers did not leave empty-handed. The three other acts will be put into WTSR’s local rotation, which commonly features talent from all over the area.
Where Is My Spaceship put on an impressive punk set earlier in the night. Lead by Josh Evensen, clad in stud-toed combat boots and a kitten shirt, the band was a mash up of early Green Day’s heavy basslines and the earnest lyrics of fellow Jersey outfit The Front Bottoms.
“This might be the most people I’ve played in front of,” Evensen said. “This is like a life milestone.”
Their full-length album “Mostly Crocodile” was created over the course of four years, with Evensen engineering, mixing and playing every instrument except the drums. The band hopes to play more shows outside of New Jersey and work on their next record throughout the rest of the year.
Trenton-based band Levelhead showcased their indie punk style with vocalist Damien McGown jumping around stage backed by T.J. Foster on bass, Dillion Mara on drums and Ethan Stout on guitar. They jammed to original songs like “Bare,” “Headlights” and “Spin Doctors.”
The night’s first performers, The Wailing Kids, featured Mike Sindora on vocals, Joe Morrongiello on drums and Matt Gibbons on bass. The Hamilton, N.J. rockers just released an EP this month entitled “I Saved Latin,” from which they played various tracks. Gibbons’ stoic presence on bass was contrasted by Morrongiello’s fast-paced, jackrabbit style drumming and Sindora’s animated bobbing.
The competition was an overall success, giving up-and-coming local bands the chance to display their talents and gain new fans.
(04/01/15 10:27pm)
By Kimberly Ilkowski
Features Editor
With the closing of the Rathskeller just a month away, one of the best ways to say goodbye was to hold one of its biggest shows to date. The bar was over-capacity on Friday, March 27, for indie-pop darlings Prinze George and soulful rockers MOTHXR to take the stage amidst the chaos of fans.
Prinze George dazzled the moment they hit the stage, wearing edgy and fashionable all-white ensembles. With a sparkling dress that continuously caught the light, lead singer Naomi Almquist shined while performing songs off the group’s debut, self-titled EP.
Almquist’s dance moves flowed to the rhythm of music, with Kenny Grimm jamming on his guitar and Isabelle De Leon dripping with fierce girl power as she killed it on the drums.
The Brooklyn-based trio had the crowd swaying and singing to songs like “This Time,” “Upswing,” “Victor” and a sugary-sweet cover of The White Stripes “We’re Going To Be Friends.”
The band just wrapped up a stint at South By SouthWest Music Festival in Austin, Tex. where they played a show a night.
“It was just a crazy, nuts, eye-opening experience,” Almquist said. “There’s no sound checks and it makes you learn to just let go and that the show must go on no matter what happens.”
The three had previously never been on tour before, so the experience also helped them find ways to survive being on the road.
“We learned how to function on very little sleep,” De Leon said.
Any lack of sleep they experienced from being at the festival was not visible at the show, as they rocked the crowd with high synths and drum solos by De Leon.
By the time MOTHXR finally took the stage, it was nearly impossible to navigate through the sea of people waiting for them to perform.
The large display of student attendance was caused by frontman Penn Badgley, who is widely known for his role as Dan Humphrey on the teen drama “Gossip Girl.”
Transitioning from acting to a career in music, Badgley displayed his skills on both vocals and guitar, as he led the crowd into a night of bluesy croons and smooth guitar solos.
The band, which has only been making music for roughly a year, played various singles such as “Stranger,” “Victim” and “Centerfold,” each with a distinctive, sultry flair.
These songs and many more will appear on their upcoming full-length release, but those who attended the show may be surprised by how the live versions of the songs will appear on the album.
“I listen to a lot of R&B and soul music, and you can hear a lot of that on the record,” Badgley said. “Our live sound is more rocky. It’s really a minimal album, I don’t play guitar on it, and there’s less long instrumentals.”
As Badgley moaned into his microphone, the incredibly talented Simon Oscroft shredded guitar at his side with Darren Will on synths and a new drummer who performed with a constant smile Although many students were there to see one of their favorite actors, it was important for them to see this different side of him and support his current endeavours.
“There’s that one element of it, you’re lucky if you’re able to find it,” Badgley said of the same passionate spark he gets from acting as well as performing music. “That’s how you know you’ve found a very special place when you can feel it (in another medium).”
The group is set to take on summer music festivals, starting in August with Full Moon Fest at Governor’s Island in New York City and TBD Festival in September.