By Lindsey Rothering —
Blue Devil Productions’ “Thursday Night Out” series started the spring semester out strong, featuring a wonderful concert from bands Graveyard Club and Wooden Antler. Both fresh from a show at the Triple Rock Social Club in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities-based bands left their big-city scenery to play an exciting show at the Memorial Student Center on Thursday, Jan. 29.
Performing several tracks over approximately a fifty-minute set, Nathan Woolery of the one-man band Wooden Antler opened the evening with dreamy electronic harmonies, sharing funny stories or anecdotes in between songs. While most students remained sitting for this portion of the show, it was clear everyone was paying attention, particularly when Woolery told his own version of “dirty” guitar-themed jokes.
Woolery clearly appreciated the audience’s sentiment, later posting on Wooden Antler’s Facebook page, “A HUGE THANK YOU to all who came to the show at UW-Stout last night!!! That was a lot of fun. You were one of the most polite and attentive audiences I’ve ever had! Thanks for coming out!”
The self-described “modern day dream-pop” band Graveyard Club took the stage next, playing tracks from their latest album Nightingale, released in September 2013. Main vocals and keyboarding from Matthew Schufman harmonized perfectly with the band’s bassist and backup vocalist Amanda Zimmerman, making the soft-sounding songs even easier to listen to.
The four-person group’s happy tunes made it easy to see why students surrounded the stage almost immediately, several of them choosing to dance. The delight of the crowd, along with the noteworthy track “Skull & Crossbones” made their set particularly memorable, and encompassed their “‘50s crooners, ‘80s new wave and modern day dream-pop bands” influences perfectly.
With a solid first show of the spring semester under their belt, I’m looking forward to seeing what other Thursday Night Out shows Blue Devil Productions brings in.