As the lights of Hendricks Chapel dimmed and the musicians proceeded to case their instruments, senior Colleen Hendricks knew her mission had been fulfilled.

It wasn’t because her program had brought quality entertainment to the Syracuse University community, or even that it had bypassed a monetary goal of $1,000. Her showcase, ‘Rock the Wave,’ led students to honor and support those affected by a much greater cause – the tsunami disaster.

‘It was lovely,’ said the music industry major who has organized peace rallies since her freshman year. ‘Everyone was so affected tragically … I thought, ‘why not do something to utilize my talents and help the victims?”

A variety of students filed into the pews of the chapel Friday evening, feeding their eclectic appetites and assuming a common identity with a tiny green bow.

The entire showcase consisted of eight acts ranging from a capella singing groups and comedy troupes to rock bands and jazz ensembles. Throughout the evening, a total of $1,545 was collected from audience members.

The first act consisted of a sultry acoustic guitar performance by Chris Akios, a graduate student in conservation biology at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry. Akios, a guitar player of 13 years, provided smooth listening with cover songs by the Doobie Brothers, Paul Simon, The Toadies and Steve Vai.

A band known as The February stirred up the audience with louder, fast-paced punk rock that varied in speed within each tune. The band consisted of freshman music industry majors Brady Clark and Liam Farrell, each performer contributing some facet of his unique personality to the show. While Farrell worked a red shiny guitar and continuously strove to keep his long bangs out of his face, Clark playfully straddled the microphone pole like a fake pony stick.

The group, which was named after a month that’s emotionally significant to the members, played original tunes entitled ‘I Spent the Whole Day in Westford,’ and ‘Facebook Manifesto.’ Clark said he was pleased with the audience attendance and participation.

‘It’s good to see so many people come out,’ he said. ‘It’s good letting people hear the music while helping those in need … the fact that people came out shows that they care about local music.’

The next group to perform was Main Squeeze, an all-female a capella group created in the fall of 2003. As the colorful members broke out into four-fold harmonization, the caverns of Hendricks swelled to a resonate pitch. They performed songs across a variety of genres, such as ‘Over the Rainbow’ and ‘I Saw the Sign.’

One of the members, sophomore music major Chelsea Gavin, said the group’s strongest asset is its closeness and laid-back attitude, and hopes audience members were able to see this through its performance.

‘I hope we opened some eyes through the concert,’ Gavin said. ‘Ninety percent of the crowd would never have sought out to listen to a capella otherwise.’

Squeeze’s blend of vocal percussion was offset by the overwhelming drum section and screams of Sundae Crush. Far different from the clean-cut, color-coordinated female singers, the rock group consisted of one pink haired, female singer who often seemed lost in her own world. The other members – a drummer and two guitarists – overpowered the singer’s microphone, drowning out her voice. The group offered a razor-edged flavor to the show, offering a dynamic deviation from the previous happy-go-lucky tunes of the program.

While the punk band offered an alternative genre of music, some audience members were still disappointed with the performance. Freshman pre-med major Sadiyyah Mahdi, for example, said that Crush was ‘a little disappointing,’ and that it was hard to hear the female singer. On a scale from one to ten, Mahdi said that the first four groups were in the six range.

A male a capella group from Colgate University, Colgate 13, simmered the punk rhythm with cool, bluesy tunes. The group offered a charismatic element to the program by acting out motions during certain portions of the show. After the first song, ‘Africa,’ one of the members said they had been up since 5:30 a.m. This description caused the rest of the members to act out in frazzled mannerisms to emphasize the point, then followed this action by a song that asked ‘Won’t You Have a Little (Sniff) on Me?’

The final three groups were action-filled and boisterous in order to keep the crowd jumping as the show progressed. ROTHKO, another rock band, called audience members to the front of the stage where many of them jumped around or waved posters in support. The set list included songs entitled ‘Adjusting to Failure’ and ‘Out the Door.’ One of the band leaders, sophomore advertising design major Erik Peterson, said ‘Out the Door’ is the most personal song because it is driven by a lot of emotion.

Penguins Without Pants graced the show with twisted revelry and four man skits, each one laced with a particular node of ridiculousness. The first skit set this standard by detailing the life of a deflated artist named Frank who was obsessed with his highlighters. Another act portrayed a man named Bob Nectar Spice who died of a yeast infection.

Bringing the concert to an exciting close, the last act – a jazz funk group known as Curbside – displayed a remarkable amount of showmanship and sophistication. A five-piece ensemble consisting of a trumpet, a saxophone, two guitars and percussion, the band called fans back to the stage where they stood and moved to the music. Curbside played four original songs: ‘Came to Play,’ ‘Bengal Tiger,’ ‘Dice’ and ‘Omajonad,’ each one containing a series of sensational riffs. Several of the crowd members were pleased with this delivery and the caliber of group as well.

‘I really like them, although the church doesn’t give them very good sound,’ said Scott Lewandowski, an undecided junior in The College of Arts and Sciences. ‘Their music is jazzy with an influx of other styles … I like that.’

Some members of Curbside, such as sophomore music industry major George Clements, expressed great interest in joining the list of performers when the show was first created.

‘We jumped at the opportunity to help people overseas,’ said Clements, also the saxophone player for the group. ‘We thought it was a great idea, and a good way to get people together.’

In addition to creating support for a cause, Hendricks said that another goal set for the program was to encourage connections between different student groups on campus. She added that she hopes fundraising events like ‘Rock the Wave’ will continue on campus after she graduates this spring.

‘All the acts were wonderful. Everyone received them warmly and I’m excited about that,’ Hendricks said. ‘I think this is something that should be followed up on, because it is a good opportunity for conversations between groups.’

Published on February 27, 2005 at 12:00 pm