Story by Michael Cremin | Contributing Writer
Photos by Toto Sripunvoraskul | Contributing Photographer
This Tuesday MTSU’s AMP club held an end of the semester show dubbed “Sign of the Times.” The show consisted of solo artists David Moore, Jake Morgan, and Layla Rose. This was concluded with the duo performance “Gripes.”
“This is the end of the semester show, the Sign of the Times. Music is integral to student life so we really wanted to try to give the students a little break before finals started,” said AMP member Stokeley Ellison, “This event is really meaningful to me because I love live music, and especially hearing all the talented people that we have right here on campus. It’s crazy to see how much talent is packed into just one community.”
Throughout the course of the night the Chris Young Theatre was filled with the sounds of beautiful acoustic guitars and a distinctive folk vibe. Once Layla Rose got on stage she graced us with a Fleetwood Mac cover. This was followed by a Layla Rose original that got a bit more personal. The track was named Hypocrites and was about her highschool experience, with lines such as “We’re all hypocrites, we are living it.”
After Rose left the stage, we were greeted with our closing duo, “Gripes.” The first thing I noticed was one of the members walking over to use the high-end keyboard that has been quiet the whole night. Gripes started with a complete change of pace. The music followed the theme of the night but was progressively getting more complex. Mid-song we would see the duo quickly go across the stage and step on a pedal to save their last chord and start evolving over it. They also featured their third band member, JFK, who was a computer program on the laptop in front of the set.
“Gripe’s” set came to a head when they played their final track, Charisma’s Not a Friend of Mine. This took all the tricks they were slowly pulling out over the night and condensed it in their last track. “Gripe’s” pedal and noise usage instantly made me think of more nuanced indie music such as Animal Collective. The lead singer pulled out a controlled scream-sing voice that was reminiscent of midwest emo such as Brave Little Acabus.
Patrick Watson was watching the show and commented on “Gripe’s” Charisma’s Not a Friend of Mine, “That definitely took me by surprise but I really enjoyed it. Songs like that usually aren’t my thing but I thought that was extremely tasteful. I loved the JFK thing.”
As “Sign of the Times” winds down I don’t see a single student without a smile on their face. Music was definitely the study fuel these students needed.
To contact Lifestyles Editor Ethan Pickering, email lifestyles@mtsusidelines.com.
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