The beginning of the fall semester is the best time for students at Syracuse University. September is the last month where students can enjoy being outside before the arctic tundra plagues the campus. This is the time when University Union showcases their first major concert: Juice Jam.
Juice Jam, with its alliterative citrus allure, is a small festival-like experience for SU/ESF students. Typically held on a Sunday afternoon, Juice Jam is an all-afternoon event that features artists on their main stage and on their indie stage. (Note: The stages are side by side which makes it easy for the crowd to shift for different acts.) Unlike a major festival, navigating to food trucks, water stations, bathrooms, and auxiliary activities is quite manageable on the Skytop Field.
The 2016 edition of Juice Jam was this past weekend on Sunday, September 25, and tickets were sold out prior to the show. The lineup featured Tove Lo, marshmello, D.R.A.M., Stephen, and LOLO. The headliner for the event was supposed to Fetty Wap with Monty. Sadly… there’s no coverage of Fetty Wap from the event. Why? Because Fetty Wap didn’t show up. The rapper was supposedly making his way to Syracuse, but due to “travel delays,” he didn’t make his set. He was supposed to take the stage at 5pm, and an announcement cancelling the event (or at least the rest of it) was made shortly after 5:30pm. According to The Daily Orange, SU’s campus newspaper, University Union will not be issuing refunds to those at the event. The decision makes sense because there’s no way to track who went to the event once tickets were collected at the gates, but it’s no surprise many students are a bit heated as a result. There was a mass exodus for the buses/exit gates post announcement as many were majorly disappointed.
Besides the tragic ending, the day progressed quite smoothly. The weather was ideal, and the event was extremely organized and well-staffed. Tove Lo did well closing the show, though that was unbeknownst to anyone at the time that she would be last. Better luck next time! Looks like Fetty won’t be getting a lot of University love in the near future.
The Murphys wear their love of hometown and the working man/woman proudly on their collective sleeves. This was made ever more present on this night when, prior to performing “Bastards on Parade” midway through the set, the band was presented with the first and only ever “You Give a Shit” Award by members of the local IBEW/CWA unit for their support of the union during the recent Verizon strike.
The band employs dual lead singers. Al Barr provides the gravelly yet melodic Oi! style vocals while band founder Ken Casey lends his slightly gentler voice to the trad-Irish and rousing pub rockers when taking leads. In addition to the boisterous front men, the band also employs some top notch musicians in drummer Matt Kelly, guitarist James Lynch and multi-instrumentalists Tim Brennan and Jeff DaRosa. Brennan is imposing and animated. Whether he’s ripping chords on lead guitar or squeezing out notes on the accordion, his tall frame looms large onstage.
Throughout the show, the band recognized the dedication of its fans. Casey invited one enthusiastic audience member to the stage to take his job for a song of his choice. The fan traveled from Raleigh, NC to see the band and Casey recognized him as one of their most die hard fans as he allowed him to take the lead on “Devil’s Brigade.” Following the performance, Casey said of the aspiring vocalist, “What he lacks in melody, he makes up for in enthusiasm.” A big hug between them sealed the arrangement and the fan headed back to the crowd.
Starting with the most famous banjo notes to open a song, the unmistakable “The State of Massachusetts” whipped up the crowd and the mosh pit and merged into the traditional “The Irish Rover” to close the set.
A smooth, stylish, distinctly different vocalist, Tad Robinson impressed with both tone and control by knowing when to punch a phrase and when to lay back. He also exhibited notable harmonica skills, particularly on the chromatic harp. Holdman took the lead for a song of his own with a bit of a gospel touch, and Robinson often gave Anker plenty of room to showcase his abilities on the Hammond keyboard. Remarkable moments during the two set show included “Rained All Night” from Back in Style, Little Walter’s “Last Night,” and a crowd-pleasing rendition of the O.V. Wright southern soul classic, “A Nickel and a Nail.”
However, Charlie’s father’s dream was not his dream. He had already moved to London with his girlfriend and had no intention of staying in the family business. With a loyalty to his father he returns, and a chance encounter with a drag queen named Lola (J. Harrison Ghee), this pair come up with a brilliant idea to cater to a niche market as a way to save the shoe factory he has inherited.
Lola and her drag dancers (The Angels) wearing very exotic and glamorous costumes and insist that these stilettos must bear the weight of a man. So, with the help of an enormously humorous dedicated cast of employees, they make boots for “women who are men.” The only stipulation for Lola’s assistance in this endeavor, they must be RED “the color of sex and passion and danger”. Born are the thigh-high “kinky boot”. Lola’s rendition of “Sex is in the Heel” was a soulful and sultry number that included The Angels, her “gaggle of fabulous drags.” By the end of this number, every member in the audience was ready to buy into a pair of Kinky Boots.
Memorable performances by Lauren (Tiffany Engen) and Don (Aaron Walpole), leave audience members in stitches throughout the show. Lauren’s crush on Charlie is portrayed in the hilarious “The History of Wrong Guys” and her school girl giddiness in his presence is beyond believable. Don is portrayed as a very macho man and is convinced he knows “What a Woman Wants.” It’s a great ride watching him change his tune by the end of the show.
This Tony award winning musical based on Broadway’s own Harvey Fierstein’s book and with a score written by Cyndi Lauper is a beautiful story of acceptance, love, and tolerance. The musical definitely attempts to educate the audience on these virtues, and indeed it does! When Lola sings the moving “Hold Me in Your Heart” to her estranged father, the entire theatre broke into applause for a length of time before the show could continue.
