Spring Break
Jammin' on the lawn
by Mike Epstein
Arts | 4/24/07
Posted online at 12:54 AM EST on 4/24/07
While it may just have been celebrating Spring's long-delayed coming, this year's Springfest didn't pretend to be anything else. Bronstein Week concluded Saturday with the annual concert on the Great Lawn, featuring five bands playing back-to-back, running a whole gamut of genres: ska, rock, hip hop, blue, folk, salsa, funk and pop.
It didn't matter that for most of the WBRS - and Student Events-sponsored afternoon, the acts- Illscarlet, MC Paul Barman, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Dr. Octagon and Ozomatli-were more background entertainment than main attraction. Throw in sun, food, beer and lots of swag, and Springfest was a party that no Brandeis student could ignore.
Despite having the unfortunate luck of playing first, The Toronto-based Illscarlet played an excellent blend of ska and pop-their sound undeniably resembling, if not fully emulating, Long Beach dub all-stars, Sublime. The sound was somewhat repetitive; the band worked its small crowd well, playing upbeat versions of "I'm Walking on Sunshine" and "Caress Me Down." By the end of the set, more people had shown up, and the atmosphere had gone from "Why am I here?" to "Wow, this seems really cool."
The second act, the Jewish rapper MC Paul Barman, is a legitimately unique voice in the hip-hop world despite his Jew-fro and whiny-sounding voice, his hilariously crass lyrics and a clumsy, yet playful flow. And while his reputation is solid, his performance here was not. After being irked by lackluster crowd participation during his first few songs, a notorious problem at Brandeis events, Barman tried to go political: He resorted to a spoken-word spectacle that felt more like a motivational speech at a corporate convention than hip hop. Even some of his old classics, like "Joy of your World" and "Cock Mobster" lost the energy they captured in the studio.
Ultimately, the opportunity to engage in activities such as "Find the Clit" and "Throwing Condom Balloons" in Student Sexual Iinformation Services's sex olympics-stationed at the back of the Lawn-seemed more appealing than listening to Barman talk about them.
It didn't matter that for most of the WBRS - and Student Events-sponsored afternoon, the acts- Illscarlet, MC Paul Barman, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Dr. Octagon and Ozomatli-were more background entertainment than main attraction. Throw in sun, food, beer and lots of swag, and Springfest was a party that no Brandeis student could ignore.
Despite having the unfortunate luck of playing first, The Toronto-based Illscarlet played an excellent blend of ska and pop-their sound undeniably resembling, if not fully emulating, Long Beach dub all-stars, Sublime. The sound was somewhat repetitive; the band worked its small crowd well, playing upbeat versions of "I'm Walking on Sunshine" and "Caress Me Down." By the end of the set, more people had shown up, and the atmosphere had gone from "Why am I here?" to "Wow, this seems really cool."
The second act, the Jewish rapper MC Paul Barman, is a legitimately unique voice in the hip-hop world despite his Jew-fro and whiny-sounding voice, his hilariously crass lyrics and a clumsy, yet playful flow. And while his reputation is solid, his performance here was not. After being irked by lackluster crowd participation during his first few songs, a notorious problem at Brandeis events, Barman tried to go political: He resorted to a spoken-word spectacle that felt more like a motivational speech at a corporate convention than hip hop. Even some of his old classics, like "Joy of your World" and "Cock Mobster" lost the energy they captured in the studio.
Ultimately, the opportunity to engage in activities such as "Find the Clit" and "Throwing Condom Balloons" in Student Sexual Iinformation Services's sex olympics-stationed at the back of the Lawn-seemed more appealing than listening to Barman talk about them.
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