Last Friday night on the College Union patio, Buffalo-area bands Standard of Living and Innocent Bystanders put on a free show for Geneseo students and visiting fans.
Standard of Living, a pop/rock band reminiscent of Jack's Mannequin or Counting Crows, was the first group to perform. SOL has been together for three years and consists of five members: Josh Rabenold on vocals and piano, Ken Stiver on guitar, Dan Reedy on bass and vocals, Clayton Cobb on guitar and vocals, and Mike Lindstrom on drums.
Memorable numbers of the evening included "The Drive" which was a moderately paced poetic song featuring some terrific intermittent drum solos by Lindstrom. "Autumn in Amherst" was also enjoyable later in the show, featuring an intro with Rabenold's soothing voice over a well-played piano, followed by more poetic lyrics over mellow and easy instrumentals.
The finale, a new song called "East Coast Dreams," lead right in from "Autumn," featured a more fast-paced rock style. The lyrics were incredibly catchy, and the song was an excellent selection for their finale. SOL's performance could have used more adrenaline-fueled songs like it earlier in the show to balance out the more mellow pieces.
Innocent Bystanders was next up and did not disappoint. Also from the Buffalo area, IB has been together for three years. Their primary genre is rock and their sound is reminiscent, according to their MySpace page, of "…the Beatles and Green Day…" The four other members of the group include Kevin Sampson on piano, guitar, and vocals, Brandon Adler on guitar, Scott Bernard (drums and percussion), and Adam Schroeder also on guitar.
The band kept the energy of the crowd up throughout the remainder of the concert with pounding rock songs to which listeners could sing and sway. One of their best early songs was "Popsicles," a classic jealousy tune with a terrific chorus, which has received radio play on several local Buffalo stations.
Unfortunately, half-way through the show a power glitch left IB without working microphones for their vocals. The band took it in stride and spent the next several minutes doing some impressive jamming for their loyal audience. The stage crew was eventually able to fix the problem and the show resumed.
The second half featured memorable songs like the slower-paced "Under Wraps" and their great finishing number "Queen City Sessions," which the audience met with a huge round of applause.
Both bands complimented each other to deliver an excellent joint performance. Each group currently has a MySpace home page, and both have albums available for purchase on iTunes. For more information about upcoming Geneseo Late Knight concerts please visit glk.geneseo.edu.