In the third week of The Battle of the Band’s competition Fairfield favorite JonnieProud arose victorious.
But newcomers Brad Martocello ’07 and Patrick Ginnetty ’07 of the two man band “Arriving Sun” gave the predominantly sophomore band “JonnieProud” a run for their money last Thursday night at WVOF’s Battle of the Bands at the Angus Steakhouse.
“Brad and Pat did a great job. It was amazing how professional they sounded for their first show; I could really tell they put everything they had into it,” said Arriving Sun fan Tara Cushman ’05.
The freshmen met this year through Kevin Donohue ’07, their manager. Even though the acoustic rock band has only been around for a month and a half, Martocello and Ginnetty’s first sophisticated performance suggested they had been together for much longer. They had been practicing for Battle of the Bands for weeks in stairwells of Jogues
“Watching my friends was a lot of fun, especially knowing how much they had really been looking forward to playing, and how much time they spent preparing,” said Donohue.
Arriving Sun attracted Fairfield students from all classes and even an administrator fan. Seats were taken immediately and students stood to cheer wildly for Martocello’s meaningful lyrics and Ginnetty’s incredible guitar solos.
“It was a solid performance,” said Ginnetty. “I couldn’t have asked for a better show. The crowd was great-very supportive.”
The band played a set list including popular cover songs such as Sublime’s “What I got”, Dispatch’s “Two Coins”, Dave Matthews Band’s “Crash” and U2’s “One”. Their original songs included “Lucky Me”, “Red Hearts Turning Blue”, “Dreaming Girl”, “Save the world”, the crowd-pleasing “Don’t Tell Mama” and finale song “The Sky Will Fall”.
Assistant Vice President of Student Services Jim Fitzpatrick called “Don’t tell Mama” Arriving Sun’s “signature song.”
“I feel it,” Fitzpatrick said. “If I were a record producer, I’d go for them.”
The audience’s feelings for Arriving Sun seemed similar to Fitzpatrick’s, because their cheers scored the band a 10 for “audience participation”. If you missed their show on Thursday, don’t worry. In the future, the band hopes to record an album, perform shows in Long Island and of course, Fairfield University’s Levee.
But Arriving Sun wasn’t the only talented band at Angus. The rock and funk band “JonnieProud”, a favorite band for Fairfield sophomores, won the battle with high scores of 7.5, 8 and 10 from the judges.
“I had the best time. I love being with the band members and my friends,” said Mike Falzone ’06, JonnieProud’s guitar playing lead singer. “There were times tonight where I just felt it… music takes me to a certain place and it picks up where spoken language leaves off.”
Falzone has been playing independently for five years, but said his band really came together this year. They have even released a CD titled “Live From Last Month” which fans can purchase (along with other merchandise) from CafePress.com.
Falzone is now accompanied by four other talented musicians: Chris Pastore ’06 on electric bass, Southern Connecticut students Matt Ris on percussion and Aaron Dzunja on the drums and recent addition Tim O’Connor ’05 on rhythm guitar.
“Tim is also a great addition to the band and a talented musician. Together, they brought a lot of energy and creativity to their set and looked as though they really enjoyed playing for the crowd. My two favorite songs were Katy and Gold Mine,” said Steve Tyburski ’06.
Pastore commented further on the success of the band since O’Conner’s arrival.
“It worked out very well. He adds a whole other dimension to our sound. Everyone in the band has the motivation and talent to go far,” said Pastore.
JonnieProud had students dancing and clapping to the beat as they played original songs “The Next Day”, “Played Out”, “Unlucky”, “Bombs”, “Katy”, “Real Love”, “Goldmine was the Closer” and “Help Tomorrow”. Students sang along with and cheered for Falzone when he sang “The prince of Bell Air”.
According to Pastore, JonnieProud is working to set up dates for the summer and record their new album. You can check them out at JonnieProud.com.
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