In the Venue’s Saturday soared with eclectic taste. Genres included dubstep, classic rock, folk and metal, changing up both the atmosphere and crowd.
With such an interesting mix of groups, each change between sets was like being transported to another place. Family and friends would leave and a new crowd would come in. In the end, Breath Away from Madness dominated crowd approval and took first place with large support from family and friends.
Breath Away from Madness filled their stage time will all original songs.
However, two other college-aged bands shined in particular, Apollo’s Army and Buildings with Legs.
Apollo’s Army started out with a wise choice crowd pleaser, “Carry on My Wayward Son” by Kansas. The chorus lifted the crowd off the ground with powerful vocals by lead singer, Mark Mcgahan. It was funny, the build of Mcgahan, and even the occasional eruption of screaming from fan girls was like watching a young Mick Jaggar.
Despite feeling a bit cheated that Apollo’s army started out with a cover as an easy cheap shot, there’s no questioning it showed off their talent. Luckily the band followed it with what they called their funkiest song ‘Rock the Night’, which kept the audience energy up throughout their performance.
The band is currently working on recording the album else I would have instantly added a few of their songs to my iTunes.
Even a few enthusiasts shouted for more, but alas, time was ticking and the request could not be granted. No doubt this band will continue to gain traction if their songwriting keeps up with the energy of their performance.
The third place winners, Buildings with Legs also shook up the crowd, but in an entirely different way. Following a psychedelic guitar rift by Lincoln Numbers, bassist Danny Wall broke the smooth folk grooves with a screamo portion almost reminiscent of Trogdor, from Strong Bad Emails, leaving the audience grinning and completely hooked.
A fan of folk rock, I loved every element of the band’s hippie look and feel. I caught myself thinking that if I heard their songs on the radio with CSNY or John Lennon, I could hardly tell they were a recently formed local band.
Speaking of John Lennon, after a chat with the lead singer Danny Smith, decked out in his perfectly round silver-rimmed glasses; he mentioned that Lennon as well as Pink Floyd and Bob Dylan are among the band’s favorite inspiration.
Overall the night inspired me with talent and reminded me of the bravery of those who are willing to go out and see their dream. I’ll definitely be looking at In the Venue for future shows these bands an others for others that show what talent Utah has to offer.
