Small crowd at the Light of Reason
On Friday night, WBRS held a concert at the Light of Reason in conjunction with the Student Committee for the Rose Art Museum. The people in the sparse crowd, supportive friends of the performers, were clearly excited for a relaxed jam. The opener was “Satan’s Pillow,” a student band led by Michael Harlow ’19, which was followed by “Three at Home,” a Boston-based duo.
“Satan’s Pillow” had never played together before this performance’s sound check. However, their lack of experience together didn’t show. Bassist Vince Lauffer ’19 and drummer Max Halpern ’20 were able to communicate well and delivered a passionate, dynamic performance filled with great covers — or, as Harlow called them, “originals by other people” — as well as an original song written by Harlow called “Sleep.”
Harlow’s original was smooth, with interesting chords and a wide vocal range. During one of the first phrases, he popped down to an amazingly low bass note. The song sounded like one that Michael Bublé would want to cover.
The skilled and passionate combination of Lauffer and Halpern, along with Harlow’s bubbling energy, made their opening performance a great success.
The crowd was less excited for the main act, “Three At Home,” which, contrary to what their name suggests, is a duo. The two performed both covers and originals, covering artists such as U2 and Shakey Graves. Their original songs were of a similar style, but felt rather generic. Their energy was a tad awkward, possibly due to the very small crowd.
However, the generic style gave the vocalist and keyboard player, identified only as Mary, an opportunity to show off her impressive vocals. The crowd was also very impressed and people looked to each other in amazement when she expertly pulled off a difficult riff.
The crowd was incredibly supportive, cheering on their friends during the opener and even asking for an encore from “Three at Home.” They danced a bit, took pictures of themselves and the band, enjoyed hot chocolate and donuts and seemed to have a great time. The event organizers, SCRAM and WBRS, were very friendly and made sure that everyone knew about upcoming events and performances.
Overall, though the concert was grossly under-attended, it was fun and welcoming. Events at the Light of Reason are pretty few and far between, but it was a great spot for this kind of event. It has the potential as a concert venue for more intimate jams such as this. Both bands performed incredibly well, the vibe was amazing and the location was ideal. It is unfortunate that so few people got to enjoy it.
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