Concert brings alum, rock

May 14th, 2010 | By Elizabeth Pearce | Section: Arts

This past Saturday prior to waltz, several Minneapolis bands played a show in Gardner for those uninterested in or bored with waltz pre-parties but still with a little leftover Alice in their systems. Food Pyramid is an experimental band featuring Chris Farstad [’09] on the drums. As yet unsigned to any record label, the band’s music alternates between that which one might play at a rave and excellent study music, depending on the song selected. Purely instrumental, the music sounds a little like Explosions in the Sky mixed with a settled down version of Crystal Castles (no Alice Glass screeching).

One for the Team also graced Gardner with their presence on Saturday, offering Grinnellians a completely different vibe than that of Food Pyramid. One for the Team recently released a new album, entitled “Ghosts,” off the indie label Afternoon Records. This album, which reached #83 on Billboard’s New Artists chart, is the band’s second—the first album was released in December of last year. One for the Team accurately categorizes their music as Indie/Rock/Powerpop. Quieter songs such as “Questions and Panthers,” which they played on Saturday and hails from their first album, stand in sharp contrast to the somewhat louder, rock feel of “Ghosts.” One for the Team has been likened to Matt & Kim, Mates of State and Velocity Girl and in some songs, there was even a little of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs in their sound. They plan to release another record this year, according to an article SPIN magazine recently ran on the group.

Gardner was calm at the onset of the shows, but as the night went on, increasing numbers of students trickled into the show. By the second half of One for the Team’s set, students were head-bobbing and foot-bouncing all over the dance floor. Some of the decorations for the Justice dance party—which took place later in the evening—had already been set up, so students danced beneath black trash bags billowing from the ceiling. Gardner was definitely a marked contrast from softly-lit, jazzy Darby, which was probably a good thing.