Royal Bangs brings interactive show

September 18th, 2009 | By Carla Eckland | Section: Arts

Part of the casual and highly interactive ethos of Friday’s Royal Bangs show included placing the drumset in the midst of the crowd. Lawrence Sumulong/The Scarlet and Black

Last Friday, Royal Bangs, of Knoxville, Tennessee, put on an energetic show in Gardner Lounge. Grinnell was one of the many shows they played as they tour throughout the United States from California to New York.

The tour corresponds with the release of their sophomore album “Let it Beep,” which went out this past Tuesday.
Musically, Royal Bangs comes from a mixture of genres. The five piece group combines hard rock beats and highly rhythmic and distorted electric guitar with leading synth melodies. The end result is an upbeat even jittery fusion of rock, pop and electronica styles.
Similar artists include Band of Skulls and Cage the Elephant, although the level of energy in every Royal Bangs song is pretty unique.
However, much of the crowd’s instant enthusiasm can be attributed to Vincent Geels ’10, the Dj who opened for Royal Bangs. Geels began the night with some alternative beats that quickly inspired people to dance.
Not only did everyone seem to enjoy his mixing, several wondered when he would be playing in the future.
“I thought he did a great job. People were really up and moving and I would love to see him play Harris,” said Colin McCallum-Cook ’12.
Royal Bangs played a casual show, with part of the drum set down in the crowd and the lead singer continually interacting with the audience. And once they started playing, the band’s close, dance oriented energy quickly infected the crowd
“At one point the lead singer got down and was moving around through the crowd and letting people add stuff into the microphone. So there was good synergy,” McCallum said.
During the show, songs such as “Cat Swallow,” “Brainbow” and “Warbells,” prompted the crowd to jump, clap and even mosh on the dance floor. These, as well as some other good songs like “Waking up Weird” and “Maniverse” are on the band’s myspace page.
With an almost unanimously positive crowd of 30 or 40, Gardner quickly heated up and the bassist was shirtless by the end of the show.
However, the temperature had no effect on the crowd who, immediately chanted for an encore after the last song. The band obliged with gusto, inviting the audience onto the stage.
The show ended with typical Grinnell camaraderie. “We’re sleeping at your house tonight, seriously,” the lead singer said to the crowd at the end of the show. “Thank you very much, now where’s the party at?”