By Alicia Stanek
People dancing, bands singing; First Aid sets the stage for an entertainment event at a venue that will give many people living on-campus easy access to the event.
The concert will be at 6 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 18 in the Van Antwerp/Hunt Hall basement. This public event is free for everyone and is put on by First Aid Productions. The concert will feature local bands.
“I’m excited to see local music showcased at a local venue,” said Kathleen Harvey, a sophomore international studies major.
Pony Worm, Eager Maniacs and Go Run Sprint are the three local bands that will be playing.
Pony Worm plays metal rock. Pony Worm lead singer and guitarist Pat Haydon said, “We came up with the band name Pony Worm because we thought it was a weird idea to have a pony’s head on a worms body.”
The other members are bass and back up vocalist James Hegmegee and drummer Devyn Rice.
“We played our first show at the Merlot Mansion in Marquette,” Haydon said. “It seemed like people responded to the music, which is promising. The show on Friday will be our second.”
They band members are interested in writing music, getting discovered and playing shows.
Freshman biology major Nicholas Vetter said, “The music should be quite awesome. I am especially looking forward to Pony Worm with their metal rock and grungy vibes.”
Eager Maniacs are a hip hop, indie punk band. Rapper Alex Watanen goes by Twat, a nickname he received in high school.
“I’ve turned Twat into an acronym: thought will achieve truth,” Watanen said. “I’m a big believer in logic and empathy. I believe they form a single path in many ways, and I want my music and name to express that. But beyond the philosophical connotations I think it’s also just a pretty cool way to take venom out of a word that plagued me in my younger years.”
Calvin Stark, who goes by the name Starkologist, is the disc jockey and producer who makes the beats.
“I am very excited for the show this Friday because this will only be the second show where Stark is DJing live with me,” Watanen said. “DJ equipment is expensive and up until recently, I was doing live shows with Stark’s beats running out of a laptop.”
Go Run Sprint is one of the other local bands playing at the showcase. Undeclared freshman David Daignault is the singer and rhythm guitarist in the band Go Run Sprint.
“We play a lot of different genres that revolve around rock,” Daignault said. “We have indie songs, pop songs, punk songs, alternative, progressive etc, but I would call us an indie pop punk band.”
Other members of the Go Run Sprint are Jason Vajda on percussion, Justin Verigin on lead guitar and Cody Langsford on bass. They have played around town and traveled as far as Houghton to perform.
Junior special education major Beth Tiedemann said, “Since it’s in the basement of Van Antwerp/Hunt, it will be so easy to go. Everyone’s always dancing like crazy people.”
First Aid Productions is a student run organization that promotes alternative music. There are typically 10 to 20 members at any given time. They mostly do low key shows but some of the musicians have come from as far away as Africa to perform at Northern.
“I am absolutely excited to see Friday’s performance,” said Mike Metcalf, production manager of First Aid Productions. “Local bands are my favorite people to work with because I love the town of Marquette.”
First Aid Productions meets every Thursday at 8 p.m. in the UC. They are always welcoming new members.
For more information on the showcase or First Aid Productions, call Mike Metcalf at (517) 331-4703.
