And now for something completely different.
While I had never seen the Underwater in concert before, or ever really heard more than two of their songs for that matter, I had known their bassist for a while.
Derek Euston, an alumnus of our fair LVC, is remembered by the few people on my campus that were here four years ago, as the guitarist for the Dutchmen based band Locrian.
Gone are the days of Locrian however. Euston has now taken the plunge with an established area rock band.
Though not taking the stage until after midnight, the Underwater played to the biggest crowd of the evening—or morning at that point. Bringing with them a crowd of slightly rowdy, but loyal followers, the band had come straight from a gig at the World Café on the University of Pennsylvania campus.
Their travels were finished but their work had just begun as the members of the Underwater took the stage, sans their lead singer. An instrumental introduction proved their proficiency and enticed listeners, new and old, with a taste of what was to come.
Playing to a crowd half the size of the room but proving they could have rocked a room that was twice as big, the band played with energy passion and a lot of fun. Headlining the later part of that was their lead singer, Dan Thomas, who handled the in-between-song-awkwardness with aplomb.
“You gotta help me out guys,” he said to the audience, “you guys are just standing there crossing your arms.” Thomas went on to make a general announcement to the entire audience. “Don’t cross your arms. As a matter of fact, if the person next to you is crossing their arms, punch them in the face. If they give you any crap about it, tell them I said to do it. It will be ok.”
Inciting violence aside, Thomas was almost stoic while performing, a huge shift from many vocalists of his kind. While cliché rock moves and cool microphone poses usually tend to litter the floor of such rock shows, the Underwater’s set was devoid of classic rock stances. His stillness does not come from concentration, as his vocal duties are performed effortlessly, its more of a sense that he knows he does not have to go crazy to captivate.
There’s really no questions as to why the Underwater has such a big following. Every piece of their band is as tight as possible and can rock other bands below sea level.
While I had never seen the Underwater in concert before, or ever really heard more than two of their songs for that matter, I had known their bassist for a while.
Derek Euston, an alumnus of our fair LVC, is remembered by the few people on my campus that were here four years ago, as the guitarist for the Dutchmen based band Locrian.
Gone are the days of Locrian however. Euston has now taken the plunge with an established area rock band.
Though not taking the stage until after midnight, the Underwater played to the biggest crowd of the evening—or morning at that point. Bringing with them a crowd of slightly rowdy, but loyal followers, the band had come straight from a gig at the World Café on the University of Pennsylvania campus.
Their travels were finished but their work had just begun as the members of the Underwater took the stage, sans their lead singer. An instrumental introduction proved their proficiency and enticed listeners, new and old, with a taste of what was to come.
Playing to a crowd half the size of the room but proving they could have rocked a room that was twice as big, the band played with energy passion and a lot of fun. Headlining the later part of that was their lead singer, Dan Thomas, who handled the in-between-song-awkwardness with aplomb.
“You gotta help me out guys,” he said to the audience, “you guys are just standing there crossing your arms.” Thomas went on to make a general announcement to the entire audience. “Don’t cross your arms. As a matter of fact, if the person next to you is crossing their arms, punch them in the face. If they give you any crap about it, tell them I said to do it. It will be ok.”
Inciting violence aside, Thomas was almost stoic while performing, a huge shift from many vocalists of his kind. While cliché rock moves and cool microphone poses usually tend to litter the floor of such rock shows, the Underwater’s set was devoid of classic rock stances. His stillness does not come from concentration, as his vocal duties are performed effortlessly, its more of a sense that he knows he does not have to go crazy to captivate.
There’s really no questions as to why the Underwater has such a big following. Every piece of their band is as tight as possible and can rock other bands below sea level.
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