Twenty One Pilots, MBANZA and Dean Tartaglia / January 12, 2012 / The Union

By: Kyle Rutherford, Contributor

Sunshine and cats: that seemed to be the theme at The Union Thursday when Westerville, Ohio’s Twenty One Pilots rolled in to play a free show for a packed house of patrons who seemed happy to be out of the snow.

Opening bands included MBANZA and Dean Tartaglia from Mind Fish, both from Athens.

Tartaglia started the show with only him, his guitar, and a backup electronic drummer. Now, I’ve never listened to Mind Fish until I started writing this review, so I’m not exactly sure if he played any of their songs. But, he played a good amount of stuff that the crowd could easily grasp: a more pop-punk-like set that compares to Weezer, or even a stripped-down Fall Out Boy. The major mindfuck of his set came when he sang a song about his cat, using meow more than most lyrics.

The 8-piece MBANZA came next, donned in face paint and feathers to make themselves look like members of the Lost Boys from Peter Pan. Their Folk/Roots set was pretty great, though the younger crowd could only get into it had they had a few drinks in them. The more interesting part of their set came from a vocalist/percussionist who did some sort of a melodic yelling, like the guy singing at the beginning of The Lion King, but with no words. Their covers of “Lotus Flower” by Radiohead and “You Are My Sunshine” were interesting, as well as great.

Last onstage, much to the crowd’s pleasure, was Twenty One Pilots. It’s hard to give these guys a particular style, but I can say they sounded like a more electronic version of Flobots, but with the stage presence and energy of--dare I say it--Hollywood Undead; the rap skills of pretty much any great artist in the game; and a light show comparable to that of Innerpartysystem. By all that, the crowd was wowed. The raw energy coming out of the two members was incredible.

Most of the music played from a laptop controlled by drummer Josh Dun, but Tyler Joseph smoothly transitioned between singing/piano, keyboards, and rapping. The crowd was intense, with constant jumping and alcohol-spilling, though no one seemed to care. Their cover medley included “Steal My Sunshine” by LEN and “It’s Gonna Be Me” by 'N Sync, and everyone ate it up.

A band could be a crowd-pleaser, but not play well musically. But overall, the unsigned Pilots could soon be a force to be reckoned with in the alternative music world.

3/31 Free Show at Casa Scene and Heard: Vagrant Beat, Walk the Moon, and Mind Fish

It’s been about three weeks since I have seen the Athens local post-hardcore 5-piece Vagrant Beat and I must say that I am continuously impressed by the quality of their performances and the music itself. After listening to their opening set for recently-gone-viral, Cincinnati native synth-pop group Walk the Moon and Athens’ rock group Mind Fish at Casa Nueva, I consider myself a part of their fan club, The Vagrants (as opposed to Beaters).

Before the show began I took some time to talk with Walk the Moon drummer Sean Waugaman about the band’s recent success. He told me stories about SXSW where the band played with The Airborne Toxic Event amongst others. Walk the Moon recently gained popularity from their music video for “Anna Sun” and as a result have had an article published in Spin magazine and will be on the Last Call with Carson Daly show tonight, April 1.

The energy Walk the Moon played with was infectious as the entire crowd danced to the catchy choruses of songs like “Quesadilla” and “Car”. They played two new never-heard-before songs, one of which was unnamed and the other I quite honestly just can’t remember the name of. After the show, lead singer Nicholas Petricca thanked the audience, especially those who were at their show last year in the Spacement and encouraged everyone to stick around for Mind Fish and hang out with them after the show.

Mind Fish took the stage with the windows already fogged up from the energy of the previous two bands, and did what they do best; which is putting on a very hands-on performance that included lead singer Dean Tartaglia dancing on things and with his adoring fans in the audience. The band definitely got the crowd involved, inviting people up on stage to shake their hips and even got those who didn’t know many Mind Fish’s song singing along to their medley of Foghat’s “Slow Ride” and their own song “Detroit Rock and Roll." The night ended with the repetition of the lyric “Dean’s got a band and it’s the best in the land” and, despite the slight narcissism, Mind Fish gave a performance that kept the crowd on their feet and dancing all night long.

Highlights of my night? Lead singer of Walk the Moon, Nicholas Petricca's, coming up to me and thanking me for rocking out so hard during their set and the scream at the end of Vagrant Beat’s song “Vignette." Gives me the chills every time.

--Matthew Bemer, Staff Writer

Vagrant Beat photo: Ryan Murphy

Battle of the Bands '10

ED2010 and SPJ joined forces and hosted an absolute raging Battle of the Bands last night at the Union. The show had the place absolutely filled and attracted an audience of Athens locals and OU students looking and finding a good time and good music from the local scene.

The set list included the band, Sufferin’ Moses Blues Band, Mind Fish, First Street Heat and Solis; having the musical style range from garage to mellow to funk, everyone’s taste was satisfied. Each band held their own when it came to entertaining the crowd, especially entrancing the pre-gamers, which was quite entertaining to watch.

While the winner was announced in the wee hours of the night, and I departed early, one band definitely stuck out — First Street Heat. The near dozen-man group was a true ensemble, all donning outfits from decades past, rapping, playing several different instruments (like saxophones) and showing off… dance moves. More impressive than their image and hip-hop funk music was their ability to captivate an audience so much that the Union briefly resembled a miniature disco.

The Battle was successful, and I hope that it can make an annual appearance.

--Jazmine Reed, Contributor