Music Explosion 1 Review
Written November 3, 2003

Who knew? Wilfrid Laurier students have real musical talent and I’m not just talking about concert hall material. On a Thursday night that bore the weight of an ominously looming Halloween, Radiolaurier’s heavily promoted Music Explosion event was a-rockin’ at Wilf’s for the pleasure of those seeking an alternative to the thumping Club Beatz of the Turret above. As the first of three preliminary rounds this year that will ultimately see Laurier’s champion compete against other schools for a shot at some fame and possible bling-bling, last week’s show predicts good times ahead.

Music Explosion is the vamped-up and blandly renamed successor to last year’s Battle of the Bands, likely re-branded to accommodate music that doesn’t really fit under the “band” label. The event maintains its charitable roots, however, with proceeds going to global group WUSC. Brick Beer’s role as Music Explosion’s corporate beneficiary was obviously showcased through advertising and the sight of heavily intoxicated girls face-planting through tables with Brick Stubbies in hand. The evening’s big winners were even invited to tour Brick’s facilities as a prize.

In a noticeable improvement from last year’s organization, the first of four bands took the stage right on schedule. Bearing the title Look What You Did, the four-piece rock act roared out of the gates with an instrumental jam, complete with tambourine madness. The percussionist was really something else, pouring his heart and soul into that tambourine with admirable gusto and finally throwing it to the ground in a fit of Cobain-like destructive emotion at the end of the song. Sadly enough he faded to the background for much of the remaining set and was largely replaced by flat vocals that did little to enhance the band’s chemistry. Look What You Did’s set had its moments but failed to rouse the audience, which was still in preliminary stages of drunkenness.

Shortly following was pop-punk band Rock Radio, who brought their very own merch table and rock-out entourage along to Wilf’s. These guys, who were unfortunately and detrimentally introduced as coming from a “hard-knock life” by a Radiolaurier rep, showed lots of energy on stage. Featuring strong vocals and especially good synchronization between the lead and backup singers, Rock Radio was clearly talented. However, their emo lyricism, mic-swinging and power-chord style fits a cliché that looks to be the new grunge – people are getting burnt out on stereotypical pop-punk. Finishing on an especially strong note with some Thursday-like screaming, Rock Radio is a promising new band that is unfortunately stuck in a declining trend.

Hitting the stage next was Live to Air, probably the most anticipated act of the night. When a band wows you with their sound check, you know they came to kick ass. Live To Air’s show is by far the most difficult to describe, blending an incredibly wide range of styles and talents into a performance that mixes guitars, turntables, beat-boxing and a diverse range of vocalism. Taking cues and samples from popular musicians such as P. Diddy, Jack Johnson, Pink Floyd and Bob Marley, Live to Air possessed the compelling on-stage presence of a jam-band and the dynamic flow and improvisation of battle-rappers. Each member clearly came from different musical backgrounds and yet combined their efforts unselfishly. I knew they had won before their first song was done.

That said and done, I felt a little sorry for final act Kid Gib. Another formulaic punk band, Kid Gib had all the prerequisite jumping and witty banter between songs but were playing for a drastically reduced audience. A definite highlight was watching a guitar player power-jump over the stage railing onto the floor and immediately be chastised by event organizers. Can you blame him for trying to add something exciting to his show? Oh yeah, they also broke the railing somehow before they finished up. A quality band with an unfortunate place in the line-up.

As expected, the chants of “Live-To-Air!” from a horde of enthusiastic fans foreshadowed that group’s win, and they went back on stage for fifteen minutes of encore. They were a little self-indulgent and called on a break-dancer whose shoes flew off and hit innocent bystanders, but repeatedly gave respect to their fallen competitors in a show of magnanimous enthusiasm. Music Explosion was a well run event with a worthy victor and everyone went home happy, even the drunk girls who fell through the table.

The first of four Music Explosion reviews I did for the Cord. This one was pretty straightforward - all about the music. The sequels were far more eventful.

However, the phrase "unfortunate and detrimental" will forever haunt me. Apparently the "Radiolaurier rep" (who later turned out to be Jenn and Jen) that I mentioned took massive offense to my offhanded criticism and used their radio show to make fun of me for the remainder of the year. Of course, I had no idea who these girls were and it was a massive surprise to me when I actually ended up talking to Jen at the first RadioLaurier meeting I was a member of and she admitted everything. I was actually pretty amused to learn that I had mortal enemies and arch-nemesis' and the like, but Jen and Jenn turned out to be pretty nice people in the end.