To the blurry-minded and discordant ones amongst you last weekend, to the twerkers, the confused, the frenzied, the fruit-laden, the insufferable. We were visited by Boss Tweed and the Carpetbaggers. The masked men that stood before you were no strangers to you, or even the very venue. No, it was not the Boss of Tammany Hall, and, no, we did not pay them with carpet bags afterwards. The masked men were none other than the three founding members of the band Aqueous, minus their keyboardist for that stripped-down, raw rock ‘n’ roll feel.
Boss Tweed has been playing on and off in between Aqueous tours for the past several years. The band is based out of Buffalo, and has only started to fully immerse their side project with music scenes in other sectors of the State. The band was boisterous and loud, interacting with the crowd in a crude and unforgiving manner. Their originals were centered around crass choruses of one liners, like “I killed it with my Dick,” and covers that ranged from Weezer’s “Hash Pipe” to the infamous Sex Pistol’s “Anarchy in the UK.” The music appealed to the rowdiest of rockers and perked the intricate ears of audiophiles and classists alike. Their sound, complimenting the band’s connection to the venue, conjured a mantra for the evening that could only be “Java Love.”
But the lovin’ doesn’t stop there! This past Wednesday, we had a blow-out of an open mic night. The stage was taken by faces new and old, with immense talent spilling through the propped-open front door. The night kicked off with a set of various acoustic acts, filtering in pianos, mandolins, and other instruments. By the time 11 o’clock had rolled around, the bands had just begun to take the stage. The Twelve Steps, Mitzi and the Muffins, Naughty Boyz, and Hank on Lex each showcased a collection of some of the best songs St. Lawrence has to offer. Thank you to each and every one of you that came to support your fellow Laurentians. We’re hoping to plan a few more of these open mic nights before the semester comes to a close.
We’re now at the part of the column where I like to tell you about the show that’s going to be coming up, but once again this article will be in print after their performance. I’ll save you from the hypothesized pedantics and just let you know that they were called Formula 5. This was one of the first bands I saw at the Java Barn, so it’s nice to have gone full circle now that this columnist’s final semester is winding down.
Carthago delenda est!