The Audio Engineering Club (AEC), SUMAC, and Delta Phi Epsilon teamed up last Thursday to present a benefit concert on Babbio Patio as part of AEC’s Bandstand Series.
Although it got chilly at night, there was still a sizable turnout by the time the last band went onstage to perform. The concert was hosted to raise money for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Diseases. The three bands that performed, Phoneboy, Behind the Curtain, and Cool and Good, are all Stevens bands that have been playing gigs in and around Hoboken for the past few years.
Cool and Good was the first to go on. Made up of Hunter Daly, Zach Raina, Nolan Vernon, and AEC President Matt Renzo, Cool and Good is an energetic self-described “Surreal Rock” group that blends elements of jazz, grunge, punk, emo, and ska. They played mostly from their large repertoire of originals, including “Life’s Ok” and “Life’s Not Ok” from their 2019 EP Life. During the performance, a projector was set up next to the stage to display imagery from a surreal YouTube cartoon of Garfield consuming the entire universe.
Next up was alt-rock group Behind the Curtain, with Matt Renzo as a fill-in on bass. Behind the Curtain is a three-man group comprised of Aaron Lerch, AJ Kasper, and Frank Lombardo. They also played mostly originals from their 2019 album “No Respect for Symmetry,” aside from a few covers, one of which was a cover of “Hung” by Exit 114, a Stevens punk band that recently saw all of their members graduate. AJ Kasper, Behind the Curtain’s lead guitarist, provided a handful of passionate solos, which the audience seemed to thoroughly enjoy.
Last up was Phoneboy, an indie-pop boy band that has attracted international attention on streaming platforms over the past year. Phoneboy is comprised of Stevens students Ricky Dana and Wyn Barnum, and Fordham student James Fusco. As a live band, Phoneboy has Jordan Torres on keys/vocals and Luke Malvey on drums. Most of their songs were originals, although they only have three songs on Spotify as of the writing of this article. Their keyboardist Torres sang lead on their cover of “Valerie” by Amy Winehouse and traded lines with Dana on their cover of “Creep” by Radiohead. The fan-favorite seemed to be their first song on Spotify, “Acid Girl,” as most people knew the words and were singing along when they played it towards the end of their set.
“We hope that our Stevens Bandstand concert series can help to foster a music scene on campus and inspire people to make music and perform. With the recent growth of the music scene at Stevens, we hope to put on shows more frequently in the future. Stay tuned for DJ Night in December,” said Matt Renzo in a statement. AEC and SUMAC do at least one show together each year, and with the recent growth of band-oriented music at Stevens, it might be time for an increase.
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