Buhwawwk!

Saturday night at the Radisson kicked off with two bands that will make any Dutchman proud. Lebanon Valley College’s own Folk Chicken and the Shakedown each played an energetic set to the small amount of people that attended the all night concert series.
First up was Folk Chicken, a fourteen piece genre defying collaboration of music lovers and eccentric minds.
Even the 105.7 the X’s Nixon was taken aback by the band. “Let’s see how this works out.”
Backhanded introductions aside, the ginormous band was as gifted as they were unconventional. One of the more subtle aspects of the band was the extra percussion. During one of the songs, Joe Stolarick played the beer bottle. And I’m not talking about playing it like a flute or a jug, he played it with thimbles on his fingers, lightly tapping the glass.
The thing about this slight touch is that it went unnoticed until I saw it. I could hear a clicking that went along with the song but I couldn’t tell it was being made by the beer bottle. However, as soon as I saw the “folk instrument” I realized its brilliance and that the song really wouldn’t be complete without it.
Folk Chicken played a brilliant mix of indefinable music that included great vocal work by both Dan Anderson and Justin Lutz. Other stand outs in the group included the horn work of Adam Brashear, the mandolin management of Josh Batista, the jaunty banjo of Mike Greinke, the saucy strings of Mary Auker and the colorful clarinet of Kristi Jacobsen.
When the quirky hijinks of LVC’s indie best were over, it was time for something a little more mainstream.
The Shakedown took the stage with considerably less members but with the same amount of energy and excitement.
Led by Ryan Cagno, an LVC freshman, the quintet played a powerful mix of pop sensible vocals with rocking guitars and pounding drums. Dave Daniel, master of the skins, also chimed in quite often with his own brand of screams. The dichotomy worked for the band, adding aggressive chaos to well crafted calmness.
Two songs stood out above the rest, however, to the band’s dismay, they were covers.
“We keep playing these shows,” Cagno explained, “and saying we’re not going to play covers, but they end up loving it.”
None-the-less, the band’s rendition of American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson’s “Since You’ve Been Gone” was enough to make the crowd go wild. Even Folk Chicken, fresh off the stage from their own set, could be seen dancing and singing around. Any band that can get 14 indie kids to sing a long with Kelly Clarkson is worth their weight in cover gold. They proved that point later in the set as they played a song by Justin Timberlake.
Though there’s room for improvement, the Shakedown is a fun band to watch and a good show to catch.