By Rosa Barney
Though many bands may be nervous prior to performing, the members of Eclectic Collective and Spiritual Rez showed they would not let stage fright overcome them last night at afterHOURS. Both bands were full of energy and did not shy away from dancing and moving to their music.
Graham Masser of Eclectic Collective said his group’s songs are strongly influenced by social and political issues ranging from war to love. Toft Willingham of Spiritual Rez said the group members get their song ideas from the world, love and God.
“Spiritual Rez is a super-cool hippie jam-band,” said Ben Gram, a middler music industry major and employee at afterHOURS.
Spiritual Rez is a local band composed of five members, and occasionally a guest trombone player. Willingham is the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist, Van Gordan Martin is support vocalist and lead guitarist, Jesse Shaternick is the bass player, Ian “Meat” Miller is the combined manager and drummer and Robert “Ponys” John is the bass player.
The two bands were brought to afterHOURS by the Northeastern chapter of the Music and Entertainment Industry Student Association (MEISA).
The majority of the crowd hanging out in afterHOURS waiting for the concert to begin had heard of the show through word of mouth or had seen one of the bands when they played at afterHOURS before.
Both Spiritual Rez and Eclectic Collective have come to Northeastern in the past and had a great crowd response, said Jason Black, a sophomore music industry major and MEISA live coordinator.
Eclectic Collective has eight members, four of which are Northeastern alumni. Fredua Boakye and Noni Kai are the lead vocalists, R.P. Thompson plays keyboards, Graham Masser plays bass, Santi Araujo and Salim Akram play guitar, Rob Oswald plays saxophone and Sheel Dave plays drums. Eclectic Collective has a distinct sound that is formed by the combination of harsh rock sounds and rich R’B vocals.
Both bands had an obvious connection with the audience. Most of the non-music industry majors in attendance said they had never heard of Spiritual Rez before the show, but quickly took a liking to their reggae-inspired beats and guitar riffs.
“I’m really glad I came because I had [Eclectic Collective’s] CD, but I had never heard them live,” said Monique Bidell, a sophomore pharmacy major. “They had a great stage presence and looked like they were having fun.”
Martin said Spiritual Rez has advertised their shows as dance parties in the past.
“I met a girl tonight that said she had never danced that long or that hard ever in her life,” he said.
The members of Eclectic Collective said they were very pleased with the show’s turnout.
“The last show’s turnout was pretty disappointing, especially since so many of us went to Northeastern,” Masser said. “It’s nice playing for a crowd, especially here, since we have so much history here.”
Eclectic Collective’s set was energetic, consisting of original songs as well as a few covers like “My Hero” by the Foo Fighters, “Welcome to Jam Rock” by Damien Marley, as well as a Michael Jackson medley.
Masser said Eclectic Collective is in the midst of a makeover that will soon leave them without Noni and give them a sound that can only be described as “Rick James meets Thursday.”
