Heavy Rotation Record's Annual Epic Event, Berklee Performance Center, February 7, 2007
By CAITLIN E. CURRAN | February 13, 2007
Click Five |
Beatboxing is overrated. Its initial entertainment value can easily become borderline irritating, even cringe-worthy, with repetition. So the presence of Steve Foxx the Beat Boxx as an MC of sorts at Heavy Rotation Records’ 7th Annual Epic Event on February 7 at the Berklee Performance Center was less than welcome. The Berklee alum was quick to cover any dead air between two-song sets by eight eclectic bands with all sorts of squeaks, snorts, and blips. The crowd (to judge by the abundance of backpacks, mostly Berklee students) used this time to socialize and scout out better seats.The event’s host, Heavy Rotation, is both a label and one of the best ever ways to get college credit. Each semester, a new batch of Berklee’s music-management hopefuls get to put out an actual album. Sure, they have to wade through hundreds of demos to pick the eight bands to feature on their Dorm Sessions compilation, but they also get to address all aspects of production. Heavy Rotation also released an Apollo Sunshine disc with spinART in 2005, and in 2002 Epic distributed HR’s all-female comp Shekinah. Last year’s class leaned toward hip-hop, but this year the music ranged from the comfy alt-country of Madi Diaz to the thunderous metal of September Twilight to the reggae dance grooves of Spiritual Rez. The Berklee grads in the power-pop Click Five even popped in for a surprise performance.
But the evening’s highlight was a set by Thick As Thieves, who recruited a second drummer and a string quartet to join them for two powerful, layered rock originals. For a while, real-world professionalism ruled. Then Heavy Rotation co-director Jessica Wolfe strode on stage to make an announcement, Steve Foxx sprinted by and snatched the paper from her hands, and the school-assembly spirit was restored.
Related:
LOL in the family, The Ponys, Mixed Media at the Papercut, More 
- LOL in the family
Rick Rolling made real before our eyes? This truly was a special night.
- The Ponys
This Chicago-based foursome bring garage rock to life much the way the White Stripes did on their early albums.
- Mixed Media at the Papercut
Last Saturday's mixed-bill affair at the Papercut Zine Library was a strange hybrid of contemporary salon, multimedia talent show, and impromptu modern-dance class (with instructions to move our bodies "like fire").
- The society of the spectacle
Of Montreal live at the Paradise, April 21
- Unhinging the binge
I have a possible solution for the binge-drinking quandary: be more discerning about what you pour down your throat.
- Lovers' rock
Ever want to throttle your co-worker, that well-meaning but slack-jawed doofus always peering over your cubicle? How about your partner at home, always leaving the seat up or making a Hansel-and-Gretel popcorn trail from the kitchen to the couch?
- Don't go there
Biking in Boston is a venture rife with obstacles — my daily, 2.4 mile commute between home in Cambridge and work near Fenway is proof of that.
- Boston music news: January 25, 2008
Mark Zaleski is only 22, but the saxophonist, who just began his final semester at New England Conservatory, has played with both Dave Brubeck and Jethro Tull.
- Blouse party
Joe Williams, the waify mastermind, is childlike in performance, all long eyelashes and restless feet.
- The odd couple
Apollo Sunshine's Jesse Gallagher recently announced that Biff Rose would be traveling from the Big Easy for a rare, one-night-only show this Wednesday at the cozy Lily Pad.
- Grupo Fantasma
"When you come to our show, you gotta dance. You dance however you want to dance."
- Less
Topics:
Live Reviews
, Apollo Sunshine, Madi Diaz
