By Ava Cotlowitz
Staff Writer
@font-face {
font-family: “Times New Roman”;
}@font-face {
font-family: “Calibri”;
}p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 10pt; line-height: 115%; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; }table.MsoNormalTable { font-size: 10pt; font-family: “Times New Roman”; }p.NoSpacing, li.NoSpacing, div.NoSpacing { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; }
A thrilling end to the Bryn Mawr Concert Series’ successful semester, oOoOO, Gauntlet Hair, and Pictureplane transcended saturday night’s audience in Rhodes Dining Hall. Two brass-lit chandeliers hang from the ceiling, elegantly decorated and grandiose. Cherry wood floors and paneled walls cover the room and a set of large antique windows line the backdrop of the black platform stage. With hardly any light but the gleaming red exit sign on the side of the wall and the neon flashes that illuminated the artists, the ambiance of Saturday night’s show was nothing short of breathtaking.
The first act of the night, oOoOO, began his set hunched over a white MacBook decked in all black attire. His eyes, constantly glued to the screen in front of him or the sound board to his left, were fixated amid the tremor of the heavy bass throbbing from the two speakers, squeezing the stage. oOoOO’s music consisted of mostly instrumental mixes ranging from hip-hop and electronic to new age and pop. As his fingers toyed with the sound of his own beats, the crowd responded with enthusiasm to oOoOO’s body-rocking rhythms. While his music clearly pleased the audience, it is evident that oOoOO achieves a different type of musical thrill with his unexpectedly enthralling compilation of beats.
The next band to hit the stage was a four-member group called Gauntlet Fire. Originally from Denver, Colorado, these artists displayed their talent with two guitarists, a drummer and one shared guitarist and vocalist. Despite the heavy bass and drum beat that reined the room, the lead singer conspicuously performed a quite melodic and electrifying vocal set. Self-described as “experimental pop” music, Gauntlet Hair achieved an innovative repertoire of tracks, impressing the audience with its rhythmic yet edgy sounds.
For the final act, a wonderfully dynamic performance from Travis Egedy’s Pictureplane was held. Dressed in black, this tall, lanky man showed off his flair, constantly moving between mixing his throbbing techno beats to fluidly dancing around the stage while organically vocalizing to his music. The Pictureplane soundtrack exudes a futuristic vibe through its amalgamation of genres, or, as Travis likes to call it, its “vampire rave acid pop” music. His inspiration, for such forward thinking beats, interestingly arises from his knowledge outside of music, such as contemporary art and philosophy. Because of such deep thinking, Travis has said to create his music through a meditative process, which allows for him to gracefully “compile all his personal desires into one being”. Such an introspective method is clearly apparent in his performance as Travis devotes his entire body to transferring the musical drive within him to the audience, compelled by his charisma.
As the closing show of the semester, oOoOO, Gauntlet Hair, and Pictureplane, proved to have delivered an exhilarating performance, leaving the audience with not only a fond memory but a taste for ground-breaking music at its finest. Another stellar find from the Bryn Mawr Concert Series’ playlist.