14 DECEMBER 3, 2003 Handshaker or Headshaker? We Killed Him was totally wicked awesome The six acts of the evening included “Downtown Dave” Routely, We Killed Them, Ragu Lokanathan, Veritas, Floored, and Opus Dei. Each act had it’s own individual sound. These different sounds probably influenced the many listen- ers to get off their butts on a Friday night and head down- town. by Maggie Gilbert The Handshaker event of Friday, November 14th went off without a hitch. The night got off to a great start simply by being at an excellent location. St. Michael’s Church on Victoria and Fifth Ave. was an ideal venue. The high ceilings and easily accessible kitchen space were supreme for the crowds of sweaty people and the available food (and alcohol) respectively. The lighting and stage set-up was also well done for the small, but cozy atmosphere. The downtown site wasn’t even difficult to get to for the non-driving University residence dwellers as a bus was provided for the occasion. However, young residence dwellers did not make up most of the crowd. The crowd consisted of an interesting mix of university students, high school students, as well as working Following Routely was We Killed Them. This set was much more intense and LOUD. There was a fair amount of jumping and dancing from the audience in the front and people definitely got into a mood for the evening. (and I suppose non-working, non-school going) adults. This could be attributed to the diverse musical talent that went on until the early morning. The six acts of the evening included “Downtown Dave” Routely, We Killed Them, Ragu Lokanathan, Veritas, Floored, and Opus Dei. Each act had it’s own individual sound. These different sounds probably influenced the many listen- ers to get off their butts on a Friday night and head down- town. “Downtown Dave”, (an incredibly talented solo star who gets his name from extensive busking downtown) was an appropriate and mellow start to the evening. He played a variety of folky songs and the crowd responded pleasantly, He included friends of his to assist him with his last song, “No Pets on the Moon.” Following Routely was We Killed Them. This set was much more intense and LOUD. There was a fair amount of jumping and dancing from the audience in the front and peo- ple definitely got into a mood for the evening. There ware a few technical difficulties, (the mic not working and the lead guitarists string breaking) but they were overcome. Jeremy Stewart, the lead singer comments, “That’s what we call cre- ative problem solving. When we put our heads together we can overcome technical difficulties.” Ragu Lokanathan, whose fame precedes him, played an excellent set. Later proclaimed the best act of the evening (in my small but accurate vote) Ragu’s lyrics and musical skills Local celebrity Ragu Lokanathan was at the handshaker were amazing and the audience responded whole heartedly. As one fan put it, “He manages for his lyrics to be incredibly specific and personal but so that the audience can still identify with them.” Jeremy Stewart, singer comments, “That’s what we call creative problem solv- ing. When we put our heads together we can overcome technical difficulties.” The fourth act of the evening, Veritas, played fairly well. The crowd was less responsive to this very standard sounding band. However generic, to the bands’ credit they did perform energetically and their sound was clean. The second to last band that started sometime around 12:30 was Floored. The music alternated between almost emo-ish and loud and banging. the lead The crowd was fairly enthusiastic but fading slight- ly, (this is the point where a drunk guy decided to be a reporter and starts writing random things on my notepad) and by far the best quote by this band for the evening was by the dramatic lead singer Scotty, “We get wasted, throw up on ourselves and go home single.” The last band, Opus Dei, unfortunately had to put up with a seriously dwindling crowd. Nevertheless this band (of some of the most attrac- tive people I’ve ever seen, if I may say so) played very well. Their skill was fine tuned; however, their stage performance was lacking. With time and some banter-with-the-audience skills this band could be quite famous. Overall the night had a good feel to it. Nothing truly terrible occurred and the performers all did quite well. It was a nice change from the average Friday night and gave a very diverse group of peo- ple the opportunity to get together and appreciate what they have in common, a love for music.