The Frederick H. Pease Auditorium hosted the Eastern Michigan University Amp Music Festival Wednesday, showcasing local bands and featuring the band The Hard Lessons.
Erin Grobbel, a fan of the band The Hard Lessons, said, “It was a well run event; the set changes felt fast, but efficient.”
“It made my feet sore,” another The Hard Lessons fan said, “It was a good rock show.”
The EMU Amp Festival was sponsored by EMU Music and Dance, Tower Inn, EMU Art department, EMU Communication, Media & Theatre Arts, EMU College of Arts and Science, EMU Student Government and EMU Office of Academic Service-Learning. The event was Learning Beyond the Classroom-approved.
The AMP festival created and sold black t-shirts with an EMU AMP logo in blue for $15. Those in charge of the event also had the band’s CDs and posters for sale, with some of the bands giving their music out for free. Tickets for the event started at $12 for non-students and $8 for students who brought their student ID.
The Amp Music Festival kicked off with local band Autumn Rhapsody. They showcased their song, “Sirens,” which can be found on YouTube as the band’s first low-budget music video. The band from Northville ended their set doing a cover for the band, The Strokes.
The Pineapple Army followed Autumn Rhapsody’s set, which brought a friend up to help finish singing one of their funnier songs. The members of the band are Alex Phillips on vocals and guitar; his little brother Greg Phillips on drums; Eric Bennett, who sported a “Toy Story 3” shirt on vocals and guitar; and Seth Weddle on piano and accordion.
The sound bounced off the walls of the theatre, never going farther than the auditorium’s front doors.
The Elliot Street Lunatics was the last band to open for The Hard Lessons, sporting white-collar shirts and a tie with vests for their set. The Hard Lessons showcased one of siblings of the event’s host, whose parents and friends had come for support and even took home some of the event’s raffled prizes. They finished the set doing one song where the guitarist and drummer stopped in the middle of the song, switched instruments and then continued the song.
The Hard Lessons, a rock band from Detroit that’s known for their high-energy live appearances, ended the night with the crowd on its feet. The lead singer of the band was found at times on top of amplifiers singing while the audience would sing back.
The event started Wednesday afternoon in the Student Center dining room showcasing five bands with 30-minute sets each. The headliner started at 7 p.m. in Pease, followed by an after-party at the Tower Inn.
More bands continued playing their music Thursday in the Student Center dining room. The bands played throughout the day starting from 11 a.m. with Chalky Studebaker and ending with the Skydaddy & the Followers, who began their set at 8:15 p.m. The event also featured the works of Frank Pahl and Paul Bancell as a part of the AMA Art Walk from 5:30 p.m. – 6:45 p.m. in the Ford Gallery.
The AMP festival ended at the lab theatre showcasing the AMP Better Together Cabaret.
