ENTER:
Last Free Exit
Sevenfold
leaves nothing unsaid
One of the last shows at this year’s Northgate Music Festival will be per
formed by local favorite Last Free Exit.
The band is a regular in College Station and has performed at venues such as
Shadow Canyon, Third Floor Cantina and Fitzwilly’s. The band made its mark
with A&M students when it was the final act at the 125th anniversary celebration
of Texas A&M earlier this year.
Last Free Exit is an Austin-based band that was bom on the A&M campus. In
1997, Aggies Parker Bradley and JT Stewart began to jam together with their
acoustic guitars across campus. They decided to form a band, and a few months
later found fellow Aggies Brian Beadle and Kyle Clayton to complete the line
up. Last Free Exit wowed the College
Station and Bryan crowds and won the loy
alty of local fans.
While the band no longer has the same
lineup (Austin drummers Michael Duffey
and Paul Roraback are filling in until a per
manent replacement is found), it is sure to
continue its reputation of energetic, often
improvised, shows.
Last Free Exit lists some of its influ
ences as Willie Nelson, the Grateful Dead.
Bob Marley, Jeff Buckley, the Allman
Brothers, Parliament-Funkadelic and John
Coltrane. Many of the band’s songs can be
described as songs to get up and dance to,
but there are also mellow songs to sit back
and listen to. But it is virtually impossible
to sit through a Last Free Exit show with
out a little head bobbing.
Fans can expect some new stuff this
Saturday. Last Free Exit recently recorded
a mini-CD and is sure to give the audience
a sample.
The show is Saturday at the Northgate
Pavilion at 11 p.m. —Seth Brown
VH1 ’s acclaimed unsigned band in America, Sevenfold, will be returning to
College Station for the Northgate Music Festival. The band will play at Double
Dave’s on Friday.
Members include David Underwood, lead vocals and guitar; Robert Swonke,
lead guitar; Matthew Cook, guitar and vocals; Jon Wright, bass and Joey Wright,
drums and percussion.
Manager Roger Brooks said the band’s origin has given them a wide
range of fans.
“Sevenfold started out originally as a church-oriented band and has grown
remarkably,” Brooks said. “They now play for the general public, and now have a
larger fan base than ever before.”
Sevenfold has performed in places
ranging from major cities to college
towns, nightclubs to coffee houses and
small venues to large concerts. It has
shared the stage with bands such as
Three Doors Down and 8stops7.
The Houston Chronicle described
them as a modem rock band with a
slight pop influence comprised of solid
drum and bass backbone, creative and
out-of-this-world guitar leads, strong
vocals and tight harmonies resonating
from catchy, yet reflective songwriting.
Houston Press named Sevenfold as the
“best hard-rock band.”
The band released its debut inde
pendent album and performed its first
show in April 1998. Its newest album is
titled Things Left Unsaid.
—Crystal Dobson
PHOTO COURTESY OF LAST FREE EXIT
PLANE
Continued from page 6
The science behind Dynamic Viscosity
Travis Ziebro, a senior mechanical engineering major,
and Matt Brown, a junior anthropology major, were
inspired to start spinning as Dynamic Viscosity after lis
tening to a DJ at a local rave.
“We were at a College Station rave and were really
inspired by what [the DJ] was doing and their passion for
the music,” Ziebro said. “We thought, why not us on the
other side of the table?”
Ziebro and Brown bought turntables at the end of
August 2001 and began spinning progressive trance as
Dynamic Viscosity. Dynamic Viscosity has performed at
local house parties but the DJs said they view the upcom
ing music festival as an opportunity to perform at larger
events. Ziebro said the group wants to help clean up the
local rave image.
“We want to push the fact that raves are about the
music and not drugs,” Ziebro said. “It’s a common mis
conception. You might see drugs at a rave, but if you go
to a Blink 182 concert, you’ll see drugs there also.”
“We’re trying to show people that it’s just a stereotype,”
Brown said. “There are so many people, especially in
College Station, that love this type of music and have no
part in taking drugs. That’s what it’s supposed to be like.”
In the spinning community, Ziebro and Brown have been
heavily influenced by DJs Ron-E and D-Jabe of E-Pro
Recordings. The DJs have done a lot for the local music
community, said Ziebro. Together with Brown, he wants to
work on bringing back together the local scene of electron-
ica listeners.
In addition to the importance of the music, Dynamic
Viscosity wants to get its audiences involved with the per
formance. Brown said this is easier by having two people
perform together.
“At a show, having two people makes it easier to inter
act with the audience,” Brown said. “One person can con
centrate on the music while the other person is focusing on
the audience. We’re really into getting the crowd excited
during a performance.”
“We’re entertainers too,” Ziebro said. “We want to get
the crowd involved and basically have a good time.”
—Amanda Trimble
band wants one thing; to do what they
do and do it well.
“It is our duty to humanity, as it is
with any artist, whether they be a
painter, writer, or a plumber, to perform
[our] innate ability for others,” Johnson
said.
As for any non-musical influences
Plan B has, Johnson said one of its main
goals as a band is “to spread understand
ing and tolerance, to convey a message of
being yourself, thinking for yourself and
finding out things for yourself.”
“This starts with seeking out the
music you listen to, and not just being
content with what mainstream media
gives you,” Johnson said. “There are so
many people who consider themselves
music lovers, who would be amazed at
what they might find if they look a little
deeper.”
Plan B will perform at Big Pauly’s
Thursday at 11:30 p.m.
—Thomas Phillips