Debuts, Jams, and the Spirit of Giving

Refugees all over the world need our support, and the International Events Association hopes to provide! This group brought us a fund-raising night of tunes last Tuesday night to help satisfy this need.

Matt Daniel of the awesome band Leading Edge took the stage first to present his solo act. He's quite the talented fellow, I must say! He served up some nice, original songs on the keyboard and guitar and even gave us a musical homage to John Lennon.

Moments later, it was time for the official downtown debut of the band once called Neptica. Although (as I explained in my birthday party entry) they are now introducing themselves as Atlas, everyone I've talked to agrees that the Ha's Neptica Atlas sounds like a rockin' name. Hint, hint. :) Regardless, their songs were wonderful as usual. Jeff was particularly amazing on the flute and sitar. Wow, that guy can play! And Sarah's cello playing really completes their songs. She brings a finished quality to their sound which makes their tunes quite amazing to listen to. Singer Adriana was feeling a bit sick, but man, she's great. Even with her voice not up to her usual standards, she managed to sound absolutely beautiful, only a bit quieter than usual. Lovely music, indeed.

Another name-changing band, Bigfoot, stepped onstage next. Last spring, I raved about a new band called Cyrnaca that rocked the Myers Quad. Well, it seems that this band has gained a new member or so as well as a brand new name. Their sound, too, has changed to become a bit more danceable though they still maintain their ground-vibrating rock style. Best of all, the girl in the band played her violin as if it were a guitar. In all of my adventures through the Athens music scene, I've never seen anything like it! Weirdly enough, though, they were the third band I've seen in a month that played a cover of the Ghostbusters theme. Is this a new band favorite or something? I've truly enjoyed all of the awesome differences in each incarnation of this tune that I've heard so far this year, but honestly, if one more band plays it any time soon, I may have to ever-so-painfully remove my ears. One can indeed have too much of a good thing.

Then the final band emerged from amidst the crowd dancing wildly to Bigfoot's set and took their enthusiastic energy to the stage. Calling themselves CocoRico, they brought a refreshing taste of pop to the mix. Their sound was very finished, very impressive, and the singer's and keyboardist's unexpected series of hilarious risque dance moves was just plain unforgettable. They finished out their set with about 15 minutes of straight jamming with guest guitarist Parks Miller. Well, that was kind of unexpected. They're definitely a rockin' band though.

Good show. What a cool way to help those in need.