Like the days of wearing a pair of timeworn Zubaz or watching a rerun of "Seinfeld," the music of Our Lady Peace and Live might be a bit out of date, but it's still a guilty pleasure.
Friday night's Spring Fest in the Alumni Arena didn't have the audience crowd surfing or charging the stage, but it did offer four entertaining hours of free music from some of the best alternative '90s groups as well as a lesser-known funk band and a local act.
Picking a rock group that will please the majority can be difficult, as there are few defining acts that ensure a sold-out show. Live and Our Lady Peace aren't exactly up-and-coming, but the event did see approximately 4,000 concertgoers in total, many of whom were older fans or families.
Ticket holders began to slowly file in during the opening performance by Kick Williams. The local alternative rock group, who have been regular performers in the Heights bar scene for the past couple years, was this year's Battle of the Bands winner. Williams put a contemporary spin on the alternative style. The group also featured the sole female musician to perform at the fest.
Live's lead singer Edward Kowalcyzk had a good time with the audience, reliving classics like "Selling the Drama" and "I Alone" as well as later hits like "The Dolphin's Cry" and "Heaven." The singer worked the crowd, often relying on hip gyration and interpretive Hindu dance to convey his anguish.
"Show your love to me," he confessed, taking his shirt off in what was the pinnacle moment of the fest.
Guitarist Chad Taylor was equally impressive, tearing through heavier songs like "Lakini's Juice" and bringing the audience to an appreciative roar with the beginning chords of "Lightning Crashes," which even woke some of the concertgoers in the bleachers from their comas.
The band also gave the audience a taste of their upcoming album "Songs from Black Mountain" with the newest single "The River" (not to be confused with "Pain Lies on the Riverside" or "Feel the Quiet River Rage").
"I liked Live the best," said Penny McClure, a junior psychology major. "The main singer really helped gather the crowd with his energy and the (sound) levels seemed more balanced."
Jam band Robert Randolph and the Family Band partitioned the two rock acts with their concoction of jazz, funk, and the longest imaginable rendition of Michael Jackson's "Billy Jean."
Randolph was relentless at the keyboard as the rest of the band pumped out the kind of extended jams that are made for sprawling on the grass (or in this case, the gym floor) and absorbing the live concert atmosphere.
While the band's sound might not fit the rock profile, they brought a refreshing element to the show.
"Robert Randolph had wonderful stage presence and an excellent show," said Brian Salvas, a freshman pharmacy major. "I don't think the bulk of the crowd appreciated them for what they were."
Regardless of the bands' performing ability, one of the increasingly distracting components throughout the event was the sound quality. The acoustics of the Alumni Arena have been notoriously muddy in previous Spring Fests, but this year the bass and percussion drowned out the lead vocals and guitars so frequently that many songs weren't even distinguishable until the chorus.
This was especially noticeable during headlining act Our Lady Peace's performance, during which the sound became so distorted that the bulk of the audience exited halfway through. The mic also screeched with feedback every two minutes, but that was probably because lead singer Raine Maeda erratically used it like a backscratcher.
"OLP was washy and unbearably loud. No matter where we stood the sound was bad," Salvas said.
From what was decipherable, OLP seemed to be rockin' out. For one of the first times Friday night, the band had the entire audience on the floor jumping and sweating over "Naveed" and "Starseed" and singing along to "Clumsy."
Guitarist Steve Mazur's aquatic strings wavered in the distortion on songs off of their latest album "Healthy in Paranoid Times."
Unfortunately, the essential "rock" vibe that buzzes in most concert venues was somehow lacking at Spring Fest. At least half of the audience was stocked up in the bleachers, putting together a half-hearted clap at the end of each song. It was unfortunate that the rainy weather conditions forced the concert to move indoors, because the atmosphere might have been a bit lighter in the open air.
"I've never seen Robert Randolph live before but they can wail," said Steve Polchlopek, a freshman business major. "Our Lady Peace as usual performed well and didn't disappoint. What was disappointing was the lack of enthusiasm from the people that were just sitting down."
Additional reporting by Staff Reporter Harold Dumke
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
