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MEISA Coffeehouse Night a Success

By LAUREN HALLIGAN
Features Editor

Although the town was freshly blanketed with a foot of snow last Tuesday evening, students willingly made the trip down the street to Madison Station to enjoy a night of music, food, and drink. The warm coffee shop atmosphere helped students cap off their Advisement Day and forget about the weather outside.

All the seats were filled in the back section of Madison Station, as students gathered to listen to their peers perform acoustically. The event was a fundraiser for MEISA, Saint Rose’s music industry

Chris Coakley opened up the show at Madison Station last Tuesday night. Photo Credit: Kelly Pfeister
Chris Coakley opened up the show at Madison Station last Tuesday night. Photo Credit: Kelly Pfeister

club who hosted the off-campus event.

Tables filled with coffee mugs, appetizers, and pints of beer showed evidence of student support for the club, since Madison Station donated 15% of the evening’s proceeds to MEISA. The club plans to use the money towards their travel fund, with a goal of sending a group to the annual South By Southwest music festival next March.

Thrilled with the turnout at the venue, MEISA President Megan O’Brien said while she’s happy it was a fundraiser “the music is the main point.”
Junior Chris Coakley started the show off around 7:30 p.m., with an original played and sang on his acoustic guitar, which the crowd took well to.  Coakley’s set also included a cover of punk band Sum 41’s “In Too Deep,” an original song played on the keyboard, and his own rendition of “Sex and Candy” by Marcy Playground.

The dread-headed Ryan Leddick then took the stage to share his talents with his peers. Leddick played barefoot with a beer at his feet in the dim-lit back room of the cafe. A particularly impressive original entitled “Unchained Lullaby” soothed listeners with Leddick’s smooth-sounding voice over his acoustic guitar. Leddick also played a cover of “What’s Up?” originally by 90’s group 4 Non-Blondes.

As the room filled its capacity, next on the bill was Shannon Vanderlaan who played an original set switching between guitar and piano. Some of her staple songs were “Mulberry,” which brought on a great applause, jazzy tune “Nightmare,” and a duet with upright bass accompaniment called “Wading.”

Nicole DeMarco kept the audience interested, playing originals off of her debut album “Passing Tones,” which was released in December. Throughout her set a few sing-a-longs and even a whistle-a-long ensued, by clearly-familiar crowd.

Out-of-towners The Trouts, a Amherst-based band on the fourth day of their northeastern tour then took command of the room with their unique, refreshing, dancey-folk style. The female-fronted folk-rock quintet included a banjo, guitar, upright bass, mandolin, and harmonica, as well as frontwoman Jane Kilgour’s striking vocals. One of the highlights of their set was their final song “Swoon,” which left the crowd in awe.

Beloved Saint Rose band Drew and The Grand Spectacular finished the night off with a bang, delivering a chaotic, but pleasing set. Somewhat similar to The Trouts, The Spectacular also incorporated some interesting instruments like the glockenspiel, soprano saxophone, sleigh bells, and a suitcase, which served as part of the band’s drum set. An energetic performance, a section of OutKast hit “Hey Ya,” was worked into one of the first songs of the set, to kick things off. Funky bass lines stood out in the set, since the band was first of the night’s performances to go electric. Despite their self-admitted disorganization, the group proved to be well-liked among members of the campus community as they generated  multiple

Nicole DeMarco performing at Madison Station last Tuesday night as part of MEISA’s fundraising event. Photo Credit: Kelly Pfeister
Nicole DeMarco performing at Madison Station last Tuesday night as part of MEISA’s fundraising event. Photo Credit: Kelly Pfeister

sing-a-longs,prompted by bandleader Drew Tirella.  Another crowd favorite was a brand new and cleverly-lyriced comical song about how “everyone in love is telling themselves a lie,” which Tirella played solo.  “The Adventures of Naked Superhero,” introduced with an accompanying story, served as the evening’s final highlight before the audience began to trickle out of the venue.

Attendee Adonai Mull was pleasantly surprised with her first time at Madison Station, saying the night was “not what she expected.” Mull reported that Vanderlaan was her favorite artist of the evening.

“[T]hose who played made the night very powerful and enjoyable to sit in while it was storming,” said Leddick, thankful for the opportunity to share his music at the event.
“I think everyone put on excellent individual performances,” said Coakley, who opened the show.  Grateful for Madison Station’s open-armed welcome to the Saint Rose community, “it speaks to the gratitude of the people who run the establishment for allowing us to hold an event we couldn’t have deemed beneficial and successful without them,” Coakley said. A seasoned coffee shop performer, he noted that it was one of the better atmospheres he’s performed in.

Likewise, O’Brien said “I’m really glad Madison Station let us do this,” noticing that the crowd undoubtedly enjoyed the new venue. Junior Christina Strezenec, who made an appearance at the event to support her musically talented friends, said “I enjoyed listening to the college of Saint Rose’s music students in a different, more casual setting.”

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