An Evening at Will’s Pub
On August 25, My friend and I attended a concert of three bands from Central Florida and one from Georgia at Will’s Pub in Orlando.
The first band, Sage, was a five-piece group with a saxophone, keyboard, electric guitar, bass, and drums. They opened with “Swing for the Low,” a jazzy alternative song with rhythmic keys, syncopated guitars, and a vibrant saxophone solo that flew up and down the chromatic scale. The lyrics were simple and repetitive but gradually layered with three-part harmonies. The song finished in a layered battle of the melody, highlighting each player's swinging beat. They finished in ritardano and one final blast of saxophone.
For their last song, they invited a friend to rap one of their newly released songs in symmetrical call-and-response bars. Like the Spice Girls, they called out, “Tell me what you want,” while the audience echoed back, “What you really, really want.”
They finished their set in a musical battle: the keyboardist slamming chords in competition with the drummer’s constant beat, while the lead guitarist and bass player took turns playing epic solos, all while the saxophonist was blowing out pulsating melodies, eyes scrunched in concentration.
Take Lead, the following boyband, took the stage in a matching uniform of graphic tees and blue jeans. The local band began with a crowd favorite, “Miss Sunshine.” The opening guitar riff stirred the crowd as they started jumping with the dual guitar players. Their energy translated quickly to the audience as they danced around the stage playfully. As the lead singer belted out the chorus, the crowd echoed with “oohs.” The bridge contained headbanging and crowd interaction with the guitarists. The drummer pounded away in the back and closed the song with a four-beat count.
They closed their set with their most popular song, “Foul Mouth.” The chemistry between the four boys was evident by their constant riffing with each other, bouncing around the stage with smiles plastered on their faces. The rhythm guitar and bass played back to back, cords tied, jumping in circles as the lead singer belted the chorus with power and joy. The whole band played with such joy that the audience had no choice but to dance along and sing, even if you didn’t know the words. They were the most active band, constantly dancing and working the crowd. They ended in a cascade of singing, strumming, and beating, all finished in one final crash of the cymbals. The quartet took a final bow before the break.
Rohna, a foursome of Tampa natives, was the last group before the headliners. This set was full of headbanging and extended guitar solos. Their first song, “Nowhere Else To Go,” started and ended with intense duels of guitar riffs by the lead and rhythm guitar players. My favorite part of the song was the moment before the last chorus when all the instruments dropped out, and all that played was the four-part harmony song “Day by Day.”
The rock group finished with a song off their newest EP, “Rosewater,” which had a heavy psychedelic influence from the 1960s, with heavy synth and circular guitar solos. They finished with a three-minute instrumental with heavy guitar and the drummer moving like a blur in a cascade of cymbal crashes and kicks. The crowd broke out into a mosh pit that I was sorrily unprepared for, and they ended in a blackout.
Hotel Fiction, the two girls from Athens, GA, are known for their dreamy soft rock sound. I was interested to see how their heavily synthesized sound would translate live, but I was pleasantly surprised. They opened with “Man on the Moon” off their new EP, ‘Enjoy Your Stay.’
“Allure” was the highlight of the set. The band eased into the set, but this song was when they picked up. The five-piece band fell into a groove. Keyboard front and center pounding out the melody while the two electric guitars jammed together, and the bass vibrated through the floor. Each player moves in synch as they play together a thousand times. Jess, the duo's lead singer and primary songwriter, belted out the chorus, eyes closed toward the sky, while Jade, the other half of Hotel Fiction, danced around with the other players.
They finished with their new single, “Monster,” a song about overcoming insecurities and anxiety. My favorite part about watching live music is the look on musicians' faces as they get to do what they love. They had a two-minute instrumental with soaring guitar and explosive drums, ending with a simple keyboard playing the melody to a resolving chord. They closed the show with a band bow and thanking the openers to resounding applause.
