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Last Friday, students gathered in Jack McGee’s Pub & Grill to watch the friends of their friends perform for their friends. The Friend of a Friend concert, put on by the Entertainment Board (E-Board) and the Bowdoin Music Collective, brought in artists with direct connections to Bowdoin students to perform on campus.
The Atlantic Piano Trio—composed of pianist Chiharu Naruse and Bowdoin faculty members violinist Dean Stein, Chamber Ensemble Director, and cellist Christina Chute, Applied Music Instructor—reunited this past Saturday with a program of works by Debussy, Brahms and Shostakovich for an audience in Studzinski Recital Hall.
Despite the nearly two decades that have passed since his graduation, the Bowdoin that Matt LeJoie ’05 inhabited as a student wasn’t all that different from the one of today. He was a DJ on WBOR, played in a student band on the weekends and even wrote a couple of articles for the Orient.
Though the audience was familiar with the scenery of coastal Maine projected on screen, the black-and-white film, lack of dialogue and live piano music immersed the audience in a pastime seldom experienced since the early 20th century.
Rarely ever does a physics professor share the stage with a Colombian flutist and a classical pianist, but Professor Mark Battle proved himself capable this past Monday. The idea for this performance, entitled “National Idioms,” began as a pre-Covid conception meant to take place in Ohio in 2020.
Tonight in Smith Union, indie rock singer Sophia Allison, better known by her stage name “Soccer Mommy,” will headline for this year’s spring concert. Originally from Nashville, Tenn., Soccer Mommy began recording music in 2015 before attending New York University (NYU).
Last Saturday, the annual Winter Concert filled Morrell Gymnasium with music and dancing. This year, Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) organized the concert, which featured guests Maude Latour and Social House as well as student band Teen Dads.
Nissim Black occupies a unique niche in the world of hip-hop. He began his career as a secular artist, but since his conversion to Judaism, he has shifted to creating religion-oriented rap music. Black performed at the College on Wednesday, with a student-led reflection set for this afternoon.
On Friday evening, Duane Edwards played selections from his new jazz album “Birds” with a talented ensemble in Studzinski Hall. Despite the inclement weather, attendance was strong and the audience’s reviews were enthusiastic. “[My favorite part of the performance] was the way they closed it out with the Nirvana cover,” Brooks Peters ’23 said.
After weeks of preparation, two Bowdoin student bands traveled to Portland last Friday to perform at “Blue,” a live music venue. Nighthawk organized the event and invited fellow student band Lily in the Weeds to perform with it.
As technology increasingly enters the musical realm, genre-bending music is on the rise. Though the rich tone of the trumpet is rarely associated with the contortions of the electronic synthesizer, musical artist Sarah Belle Reid seeks to bend the predominant perceptions of music.
While Bowdoin students may recognize Alex Washburn ’25 as the drummer of campus band Lily in the Weeds, over winter break he swapped college house shows for California campuses as he toured Southern California with his musically-inclined home friends.
Dec. 2 at 7:30 p.m. – Jazz Night Join the various jazz combos of campus for bossa, blues and ballads at Studzinski Recital Hall. Dec. 2 & Dec. 3 at 7:30 p.m. – December Dance Concert Students of Bowdoin’s dance courses will show off the results of their semester’s work in Pickard Theater.
Next week, dance and a cappella groups will perform in a joint winter concert for the first time in the College’s history. Featuring six a cappella troupes and four dance troupes, the show will be held on Wednesday in Pickard Theater at 8 p.m.
This Thursday, Jack Magee’s Pub swapped trivia night for something a little louder: Portland-based pop-punk band Weakened Friends. Headlining WBOR’s second concert of the semester, the trio’s sound was punctuated by angsty guitar riffs, a noisy rhythm section, and lyrics interested in longing, self-worth and the music industry itself.
After cold-calling pub after pub in Montreal, student band Bowdoin Éireann Ye Olde Neo-Celtic Ensemble (BEYONCE) played its first Canadian show at Pub McLean in Montreal this past weekend. The band formed in the fall of 2019 when Natsumi Meyer ’23 and Luke Bartol ’23 returned from their Orientation Trip.
Florida-born rapper Cochise will headline the Fall Concert on November 11. The performance, which is sponsored by the Entertainment Board (eBoard) and will be hosted in Smith Union, marks the revival of an event that hasn’t been held in three years due to pandemic-related restrictions.
Nov. 18 at State Theatre – “Godspeed You! Black Emperor” Godspeed You! Black Emperor, an experimental, noisy band from Montreal that employs film-loop projections in its shows, is coming to Portland for its first tour in years.
On Wednesday evening, 2022-23 Joseph McKeen Visiting Fellow Toshi Reagon performed original work in Pickard Theater that featured music and conversation steeped in themes of unity. The acclaimed creator was accompanied by a panel of professors, fellow artists and community activists.
If you were to poll members of Bowdoin’s music community on who among their peers they want to play with most, one name would appear with greater frequency than the rest: Danny Little ’22. The second-semester senior started his musical career young, playing classical piano.
On Wednesday evening, Senagalese storyteller Boubacar Ndiaye and musicians Baye Cheikh Mbaye and Pape N’diaye Paamath performed at the Kresge Auditorium. The performance, entitled “Voyage Sans Visa or Voyage Without a Visa,” explored experiences of African immigration through dance, music and storytelling.
Last Saturday, student band The Sapiens headlined a concert in the WBOR studio in the basement of Dudley Coe. It was the first time student groups had performed in the space since 2016. The show opened with a set of all original songs by Thando Khumalo ’23.
Sep. 7 at State Theatre – “Mt. Joy” Mt. Joy, an indie rock band with infectious hits such as “Julia” and “Silver Lining” will be touring their newest album “Orange Blood” this fall, with a performance at State Theatre in Portland.
What’s the best remedy for the Sunday scaries? While some swear by ibuprofen and water, Melt, a New York-based band, offered Bowdoin’s campus a unique Sunday remedy this past weekend: high energy, indie-funk pop songs about falling in and out of love, the memories we do (and don’t) keep and growing up in New York City.
The Fall 2021 semester marks the return of many musical programs at Bowdoin that have been on hold since the beginning of the pandemic, and, despite new restrictions and uncertainty, the Department of Music has still looked forward to the opportunity to perform for the Bowdoin community once again.
Those who have stopped to read the sea of fliers peppering first-year dorm doors and Thorne’s atrium may have noticed one promoting a band called En Jamb. The group, which has become one of Bowdoin’s most prominent student-led bands, began with three students playing music together this past summer.
While pandemic restrictions at the College have limited the number of in-person gatherings on campus, Bowdoin’s tradition of live student bands has continued performing into the fall semester. Last Friday, student-run band Mistaken for Strangers performed for the first time in front of a live audience at MacMillan House and plans to continue performing on campus.
After a long year without the chance to sing in person, the Bowdoin Meddiebempsters, Bowdoin’s oldest a cappella group, are back on stage. When COVID-19 cases surged last March, the Meddiebempsters had just started their annual tour and were prepared to sing at colleges and venues all over the northeast.
Although COVID-19 has prevented Bowdoin from holding Ivies weekend, several student bands have been working to ensure that students will be able to attend distanced, outdoor concerts as the semester comes to a close. The College’s outdoor concert series began on Saturday with a performance by student band Lady and the Tramps on the steps of Baxter House.
As remote learning has become the new global norm, college communities have been searching for ways to stay united while physically apart. At Bowdoin, student performance groups are channelling their creativity to bring the College’s community together with virtual performances.
How can singing be used as a form of power? The answer, for the singers and instrumentalists in the Women’s Cabaret, is to reclaim women’s identities from historically misogynistic songs, through a process of optimistic reappropriation and celebration of female identity.
The line between a good show and a great show is largely undefinable. How can you quantify fun? M.A.K.U. Soundsystem, a genre-blending band whose music draws from a broad swath of influences spanning from cumbia to psychedelic rock, played a set at Ladd House on Saturday evening.
On Tuesday night, local musicians and music lovers gathered at Frontier to hear a medley of songs and vocals in the cozy theatre tucked into the old mill at the end of Maine Street. Michael Gilroy opened Frontier in Fort Andross in 2006, with a mission to “connect the world through food, arts and culture.” The business strives to do this through its restaurant, coffee bar, event spaces and theater, used for a variety of community gatherings.
“A party for the people.” That is what the Latin band MAKU Soundsystem promises its audiences. This Saturday night, the New York-based band will be bringing that party to Ladd House in a performance organized by WBOR in collaboration with the Latin American Student Association (LASO).
Them Airs, a band from New Haven County, Connecticut, played a set in Brunswick this week unlike any show I have attended during my time at Bowdoin. No combination of adjectives can properly summarize the band’s style—if one had the arduous task of assigning Them Airs a genre, a mix between art punk, shoegaze and math rock would be the best way of describing them.
A guitar, harmonica and foot drum—somehow Willie Thrasher plays all three at once to produce lively and multilayered folk melodies. Last Wednesday, donning a cowboy hat and Rolling Stones T-shirt, Canadian Inuit musician Willie Thrasher performed in Jack Magee’s Pub and Grill for an audience of students and Brunswick locals.
Temperatures in the high 40s beg the lingering piles of snow to sink back into the earth, and bare legs to begin to peek out below shorts and dresses. With spring break over and many students’ closets swelling with newly thrifted overalls and bucket hats, murmurs begin to wind their way through dorms and dining halls: so, how close is Ivies?
I showed up to the show at 10 p.m. on the dot, hoping to catch the opener. When I arrived, there were give or take, 30 people there. The opener, Sweet Anne and the Milkmen, played a fun set, but there were clear issues with the acoustics immediately.
The grand finale of the suite of events celebrating the opening of the Roux Center will be a concert by indie pop band MisterWives in Morrell Gymnasium tonight. As an email from President Clayton Rose noted, the concert was suggested by David and Barbara Roux as a fun way to close out the week’s celebrations.
Amelia Meath opened Sylvan Esso’s set at the Portland State Theater with a song about songs. “Sound,” the stripped-back opener of the duo’s 2017 album “What Now,” hears Meath at a near whisper, “All you’ll hear is sound, and / All you’ll feel is sound, and / All you’ll be is sound.” The lines aim to unify the natural and the artificial, as Meath sings note for note beside a lone synthesizer.
In an industry where artists are usually discovered on a streaming platform rather than onstage, building a live show or even having stage presence seems no longer necessary to “make it.” But for this series showcasing artists with upcoming concerts in the Portland area, we are lucky to have Hippo Campus, a Minnesota indie band that rose to fame mainly due to a knack for electrifying live performances.
Memorably eccentric and effortlessly endearing, the Tufts-bred band Crumb was an instant hit at Quinby House last Saturday night. The performance, featuring songs from the quartet’s latest EP “Locket,” wrapped up the final installment of WBOR’s fall concert series.
Xenia Rubinos’ music is refreshingly bold and authentic. An up-and-coming singer and composer, Rubinos recently released her album “Black Terry Cat.” Brought to campus by WBOR, she performed a sampling of her music at Ladd House this past Saturday. Rubinos emphasizes the creative capacity of individual experiences and self-expression. Her work documents an ongoing exchange between her state of mind and the exterior world. She describes her style as soulful, with a lot of energy and love.
