Students for Environmental Action hosted an evening at the Stein last Wednesday featuring a broad range of music, from seasoned soloists to moody guitarists, complimented by a brief comedic stint from Josh Gondelman '07.To begin, Rebecca Katz '04 took the stage accompanied only by her guitar. As the crowd sauntered in, she sang "Hold My Hand" by Hootie and the Blowfish, but had to compete with the free food that was being offered. Half the audience was paying attention to the fine performance on stage, while the other half was revelling in the bliss of free food.
She followed with "Paradise," a folksy original song about a beautiful day. Semisonic's "Closing Time" came next, with "Wonderwall" by Oasis rounding out her 15 minute set.

Katz had a wonderful voice and was clearly a crowd pleaser. She seemed to be a seasoned veteran to performing and displayed no nervousness, despite having no backup. Her music and voice were clear and sweet.

As a brief respite from the showcase of Brandeis musicians, Gondelman '07 took center stage with his best efforts at comedy.

After a bit of apprehension, he turned to the number one weapon in any comedian's arsenal: self-deprecation. The highlight of his comedic set was the "Josh doesn't get laid jokes." When his friends asked him why he doesn't just have sex already, he tells them that he is waiting for something special-consent.

His timing was excellent, his humor on target and he seemed to genuinely entertain the crowd. He even had some Seinfeldesque observations, wondering how a sandwich shop could have a size medium without having a small, as medium can only exist between small and large. Gondelman gave the crowd an amusing 15 minutes, and at 10:15 it was time for a friendly battle of the bands.

The Nameless Band, dubbed That Guy for the night by one particularly loud audience member, was the first band to play. The Namless Band are Jason Prapas '06 on guitar and vocals, Brian Schon '06 on drums, Ryan Pressman '06 on bass and guitar and Richard Frank '06 on saxophone.

The group's original music was upbeat and very well played. After its first fast-paced song, "Quarter Past," members played their only cover of the night, "Don't Look Back in Anger" by Oasis. This bit of nostalgia was made complete with an affected English accent. Prapas sang the song well, although he did not take many risks with his vocals.
"Unresolved," a song expressing the uncertainty that comes after a graduation, was The Nameless Band's most soulful effort of the night. To conclude they played "The Instrumental Experiment" and a song called "Lost at Sea." These instrumental efforts were skillful, but ran on a little bit too long.

Sadly, these talented musicians lacked any stage presence. They commanded no attention and would greatly benefit from some energy on stage. Perhaps it was its members' nervousness, but The Nameless Band has nothing to be nervous about. A little energy would have gone a long way.

At around 10:45, another Brandeis band, named The Aesthetic, stepped up to the plate. Consisting entirely of first-years, with Daniel Duffy on guitar, Jan Hammerquist on guitar, Jake Daniels on drums, and Jeremy Sisselman on bass.

They played five songs, some of the memorable ones were "Your Favorite Country Boy" and "You Don't Have to Die." Their music was very loud and very energetic. They put on a lively show that could have been viewed at a much larger venue than The Stein.

Sadly, the vocals on the songs brought down the overall quality of the music. In "You Don't Have to Die," the song was slower and the music was fantastic, but the un-synchronized vocals brought down the song. With a more flexible singer, The Aesthetic could be a premier Brandeis band. They have the presence and the skill, but unfortunately the vocals are too weak to carry this high-energy group.

To conclude the evening, The State, a polished act set to perform at Madison Square Garden for the New York International Music Festival in April, brought the night to a melancholy close with a 45-minute set. Sadly, a large portion of the crowd missed a daring performance by Aron Glennon '04, along with the rest of his non-Brandeis band mates, Bill Lord, Sean Philbrick and Kyle Needham.

The song names themselves give an impression of the type of music, like "A Song Sung Over," "Ill at Ease" and "The Strangest Way to Die," songs with moody overtones that were punctuated by the moving vocals of Glennon. Despite their drummer's absence, their songs struck a chord with the audience, a refreshing musical voice in the midst of hard and loud music.
Rather than fashioning themselves after typical rock and roll, their music was bold in its originality. Glennon said that their music is inspired by a wide range of bands ranging from Radiohead to Lata Mangeshkar.
To conclude the set, Glennon launched into a moody and decisively original version of Britney Spears' "Hit Me Baby One More Time." Perhaps a testament to the level of sophistication in the remaining crowd, this song received the most fanfare Glennon told the crowd that he needed audience participation, so the audience began clapping and singing "Oh, no, the world is gonna' end tomorrow." Perhaps this was a demonstration of The State's savvy, but this apocalyptic refrain seemed increasingly less bizarre as the crowd got more and more into it.

The SEA coffeehouse was a showcase of the fine up-and-coming talent that Brandeis has to offer. In the case of The Nameless Band and The Aesthetic, the talent is readily apparent, but needs to be refined. Sadly for students, The State's final Brandeis performance was seen by too few people, and they missed the best show of the night.