Saturday was a very uneventful day. Waking up exhausted and coughing my lungs out I decided to take the bus to Wal-Mart because like any college student I needed medicine and clean t-shirts. Trying to keep my trip into Wal-Mart less than 20 minutes so I could make it back to the bus stop, I accidently bought white v-necks instead of my normal crew necks.

So, as any normal teenage boy who is not quite Italian enough to pull off the gold chain, chest hair popping out of the V-neck look, I impulsively decided to shave a ‘V’ into my chest in order to hide my chest hair. Feeling a little better with the fresh new ‘V’ on my chest and the exuberant amounts of Day-Quil in my system, some friends and I watched the disappointing Penn State game. Although we lost, I was just relieved that Joe Paterno didn’t croak. The upsetting game, my deterring health, and my new V-shaped chest hair (which I was gradually growing fonder of) was making Saturday a pretty depressing day.

Not feeling up for celebrating Yom Kippur at the Jewish frat tonight, I decided to go online and look for some shows to go to. After browsing over the band Walk the Moon which was the headliner at the Blue Moose, I sent Vanessa the Marketing Director a text asking if I could get a ticket. Obviously with my new-found celebrity status in the Iowa City area
she said it wouldn’t be a problem and I could have a ticket.

Gathering a group of friends who were also pretty bummed out, we all decided to go to the show. Thankfully, this was an all-ages show so at least this time I could actually stay the whole time. It started at 7 PM which was ridiculously early. Because of this, we obviously showed up fashionably late and missed the first two acts. In my defense though, it’s a known fact you have to show up to indie shows looking your best in order to impress the hipster girls. If they see you without your best cardigan on or see any visible bodily hair that is not ironic, they won’t give you the time of day. So I obviously had to look my best and make sure that the V on my chest was perfectly pre-pubescent. I only vaguely researched Walk the Moon before going to the show. All I knew was that they were from Cincinnati, have a dance indie-rock sound, and have one relatively famous song- “Anna Sun.” From my read of the crowd there though, which was fairly large and consisted of a bunch of 16 year-old looking girls wearing headbands, the showing was not looking so promising.

As Walk the Moon geared up and did a quick sound check I was expecting the worst. The heart-throb lead singer who was definitely due for a hair-cut, certainly had the attention of all the hipster girls (and some of the guys) that crowded around him, but I wasn’t falling for it. The amount of flannel and tank-tops on stage was almost too overwhelming. And finally the synth and keyboard was promising to sound like every other bullshit indietronica band trying to attain an MGMT-esque sound. Sorry to be mean, but my expectations were very low going into this.

I was quickly proved wrong, though. Without even an introduction they went right into playing, and I’m not going to lie, I was pretty blown away. The song they first played was “The Liftaway” which is a brilliantly crafted song that has so many drops, pauses, and break-down-like hooks, it ends up leaving you feeling uncomfortable yet completely stoked. The lead synth part is one of the coolest lines I have ever heard and I hope anyone reading this goes and checks out this song. Adding to this, the lead singer plays a floor tom while he sings which is so awesome and creates this constant natural bass beat that keeps the music interesting (combining natural beats with electronic beats). The band was definitely a crowd-pleaser too. Most of the crowd went right up to the stage and danced.

Now I’m not going to lie, I hate dancing. I hate everything about it. I look dumb dancing, you look dumb dancing, and everyone looks dumb dancing. Long story short, I was a terrible prom date in high school and will probably never marry just due to the fact that it requires me to participate in a first dance. But, to give the 99% of people in the world who like dancing the benefit of the doubt, everyone at this show seemed to have a blast dancing. Yes, they looked like idiots, (sorry Melanie, Mandy, and Nicole), but they looked like idiots who were having a good time. And I’m sure in some sick and twisted alternate reality where there is an un-grumpy Mitch who would have enjoyed himself and had fun dancing to the
dance-infused music of Walk the Moon. But that’s not the case, so you’re better off not listening to my opinions on dancing.

Anyway! As the show went on, the band continuously topped themselves with each sequential song. It is hard to find small, relatively unknown bands that have the energy and passion that Walk the Moon does. Every member of the band seemed completely pumped and genuinely stoked to be there. Everyone was pulling their own weight and no one was just standing around looking at the floor. Also, the fact that every person has a mic and actually sings in every song is awesome and gives this choir-like sound to their music. The crowd was also stoked throughout the entire show which reflected in their
dumb dancing. As the show came to a close and all the hipster girls’ hearts skipped a beat when the
band asked if anyone had a place for them to stay the night, everyone in the bar flooded to the front for their last song “Anna Sun.” Although I didn’t read too much into it, this song is relatively famous and has been critically acclaimed by many music sources and lists. The second they started playing this song though, the whole place went pretty crazy. Although there was not the slightest urge in my body to go dance, everyone else had the urge to go dance.

With this in mind, I would go urge anyone to go check out Walk the Moon because they are just a fun band. Their songs are catchy and rhythm is fun. They don’t overdo it with the synth and have an original of enough sound to hold their own in the indie-pop music scene. Finally, they just put on a good show.

My day actually didn’t turn out all that bad. Yes, I was sick, bought the wrong type of t-shirts, and had to watch Iowa embarrassingly lose to Penn State. But things then ended up turning out alright. I discovered that I look fantastic with a V in my chest hair. Joe Paterno didn’t die. I was able to silently judge and make fun of people who were dancing. But most of all, I got to see a sweet band put on a great show.

The post “A Fresh Perspective”: Hip Girls Look Like Idiots When They Dance appeared first on KRUI Radio.

By Mitch MacQueen

About a month ago I was asked by KRUI to write a monthly article/blog about being a small, misguided freshman and my exploration through the Iowa City music scene. Filled with excitement, due to the fact that people actually acknowledged my existence in my first week of college, I accepted (even though I did not even know there was such a thing as a music scene in Iowa City). But, before I begin, it would probably be helpful if you knew who I am.

My name is Mitch MacQueen and I’m from Sutton, Massachussetts. I came to Iowa because I wanted to try something new and escape mean New Englanders (plus the University is pretty sick, and they had everything I wanted to study). But if you ask my dad, he’ll just tell you that I came here because I’m some misguided Yankee. Growing up outside of the Boston/Worcester music scene was pretty amazing. Whatever music you were into, be it Kurt Cobain, there was probably a scene for you. Although some of the best bands in the country come out of my area, it does have its downsides. Unfortunately, the scene has recently been littered with too much straight-edge hardcore bullshit, unoriginal three-chord progression influenced pop-punk, and just terrible screamo bands that possibly don’t have any actual lyrics in their songs.

Leaving Massachusetts was a relief to say the least. Although I haven’t really explored the Iowa City music scene at all, I can already tell you that it’s much better than Massachusetts. Walking downtown on my first Friday in Iowa City, I was relieved and somewhat in shock to not see any straight-edge assholes trying to pick fights outside music venues, but the amount of Black and Gold in town is a bit overwhelming and intimidating. So Iowa City was already looking very promising.

Although I am not at all qualified to review music, nor do I consider myself an expert on music, the people at KRUI have some confidence in me documenting my exploration of the Iowa City music scene. I hope I can do the Iowa City some justice and I am very excited to begin my journey.

Caroline Smith and the Goodnight Sleeps: Midwest Sound, Majestic Beauty, and the Moronic 21 Ordinance

Max and Kendall at KRUI emailed me at the beginning of the week telling me that the band Caroline Smith and The Goodnight Sleeps would be coming to Iowa City on Saturday.  Obviously I was stoked to hear from them, but I was more excited by the fact that something besides emails about my U-Bill were in my inbox. I responded that I would totally be up for interviewing them in an in-studio session and going to their show on Saturday. Never really hearing of them before I spent all week on YouTube and in the gym preparing myself to meet and hear them. For those who don’t know, Caroline is a total babe so I obviously had to be knowledgeable about her music and ready to show off my 4 days’ worth of about 65 push-ups.

I prepared myself to write this article as well. Thinking of ways of how to poetically, wittingly, and craftily put together an article, I was already thinking up ideas for describing my first show in Iowa City.

By the time Saturday rolled around, I was all ready. When I got to the studio I received a brief training on how not to mess up during the interview and how to avoid breaking the control board. Honestly though, all of that went over my head because I was more concerned with making sure the part in my hair was perfect in order to impress Caroline. When they walked into the studio the entire band were some of the nicest people ever and were all very down to earth. But I’m not going to lie, I could care less about the rest of the band. I was more attracted to the fact that Caroline sat next to me, no big deal or anything. The entire session though was so great. Words can’t really describe it; rather, the actual videos and stream of the show on this website explain it much better than I could.

After the interview, I geared up to experience the actual Iowa City music scene. The show was at 9 p.m. at the Mill. Walking over there, I was incredibly stoked for some reason. Maybe it was the fact that I could actually feel comfortable out here compared to the East Coast where there are assholes who try to start fights at literally every show. Or it may have been that the “accidental” brush of hands with Caroline still had me a little flustered. Whatever reason it was, I was pumped up and ready to see the show.

Now, I would love to describe the show. I would love to say how all the bands that played were so great. How I was just so enthralled by the show and that Iowa City is the place for music. How I was captivated by Caroline’s voice that resonated throughout the Midwestern bar. How everything went right when Caroline winked at me. How all the words for this article were magically put together for this article that a matter of three people would read. But no. None of that happened. None of that happened because when I approached the door and handed the man in front my identification which stated “Massachusetts Under 21 Driver’s License,” I got big red X’s marked on my hand. This was then followed with a pleasant “You have to be out by 10 PM.”

Now, in Massachusetts they don’t have this ordinance. I have never been told that I have to leave by a certain time. Almost every show is open for all ages and the only reason they mark your hands is so they know not to serve you alcohol. But apparently in Iowa City they thought it would be smart to have this ordinance be put in place. Because obviously this is going to stop drinking. Because obviously instead of being in a bar which has some form of supervision, kids won’t go off to dangerous parties at people’s houses they don’t know to go drink.

But that’s not the point. The point is that this ordinance is literally killing the Iowa City music scene for kids my age. Having a show that doesn’t actually start until 9:30 with three acts, with the main act going on last, which also costs eight dollars is pretty ridiculous. I can just tell that kids my age don’t go to shows because I was probably the only freshman in there. I’m sorry, but this was one of the most disappointing and stupid things I have ever encountered.

I’m going to stop this article here because I’m afraid I might say something I might regret. On a final note though, Caroline, if you happen to read this, I am single and I’m almost certain that “accidental” hand brush was not an accident at all.

The post Iowa City’s Music Scene: A “Fresh” Perspective appeared first on KRUI Radio.