A good old fashioned battle of the bands?

Last Wednesday, the Cat-in-the-Cream hosted a fundraiser for the protest against the School of Americas. The fundraiser provided a showcase of campus bands reflecting the various kinds of music played around campus.

HuFuGuy opened the evening. This band was certainly the most openly creative and adventurous of the evening, as they tried to mix social consciousness, Celtic ballads, and Middle Eastern scales, with African and Celtic drumming. However, the group shifted around so much that they didn't really seem comfortable with any of the material. The final song, a percussion-driven Celtic ballad, was beautiful except for a few extraneous guitar and flute solos.

HuFuGuy was followed by folk singer Josh Ritter who sang and accompanied himself on guitar. Ritter immediately distinguished himself with a confident stage presence and a full, unabashed playing style that set the crowd at ease. His originals sparkled with the same kind of wry wit and poetry that distinguishes Ani DiFranco from a million other folk singers. Ritter's performance was the work of a true performer, and the growing crowd responded enthusiastically.

Because of a late drummer, Elihyu Sills' jazz group was delayed a few minutes. In the lag, people began to leave. When Sills' band finally went on, they were still without a drummer, but he appeared soon after they started, sprinting up onto the stage. The jazz group, consisting of double bass, drums, tenor sax, trombone and trumpet, started with a freely structured piece that shifted from free floating rhythm to disjointed swing and back again. While all five musicians had their chops down, the piece never really got off the ground, as not all of them seemed comfortable with the format and the feel.

However, the group really picked up when Sills began the trademark bassline to Charles Mingus' "Haitian Fight Song." True to the original, the group played the tune with a raucous edge, and really dug into it. They appeared much more comfortable in the blues format, and the group was able to really work together. All the horn players took inspired solos, with some great backgrounds done by the supporting horns. This was certainly one of the highlights of the evening, but unfortunately the group ended after only two songs.

Everyday People changed the social consciousness theme of the evening with their instrumental jazz-funk feel. The band was a quintet, with electric bass, electric guitar, electric piano, trumpet, and drums. The group seemed to evoke every single retro 70s funk cliché in the book, and were trying so hard to be funky that they just ended up being bland. The solos slid harmlessly along over several grooves that were never quite catchy enough. This group seemed to be aiming for a feel somewhere between Jamiroquai and Karl Denson's Greyboy All-Stars, but they got lost somewhere in between. However, they were the first band to get people dancing and they added a much needed boost of energy to the previously laid back show.

Overall, the evening was a success. Bands were able to get exposure and valuable performing time, the protest was able to make money, and the campus enjoyed a wide sampling of what is, despite my personal gripes, some really good music.

The fact that The Ruby Dare was one of the most musically tight bands of the night made it all the more unfortunate that they chose to resort to rock 'n' roll schtick reminiscent of the Make*Up or The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. The singer, for all that he made a valiant attempt, could not get past his self-consciousness, making the charismatic rock star persona which he tried to affect rather unconvincing.

A mix of Oberlin bands formed the rest of the show. Shots from Behind, local emo rockers who can get away with anything because of their boyish charm, followed The mass which apparently took the stage as Bikerophone but morphed over time into The Hollow Log Family Band, switching a few members in the process. This loose collective managed to convey a sense of complete immersion and involvement in their music as they played with quirky and creative ideas. Even their cover of the Spice Girls' "Wannabe" seemed as genuine as any version of that song could be. The roughness of the two bands only served to make them loveable.

On the whole, the evening was a nice cross-section of the variety of music now being created by students on campus outside the realm of the Conservatory.