ROCK BANDS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN

With their second appearance at The Wave this school year, Popjoy brought their professional and catchy show to UPEI last Saturday night. The London, Ontario- based group were greeted with a small but very enthusiastic crowd, which made the evening all that more interest- ing as it did its best to get into the show. The band successful- ly played off this, creating an energy that otherwise may have gone missing. Save for a short break, the band played a good and lengthy, albeit some- what schizophrenic, set with a variety of covers and original

songs. Easily recognizable from the over-abundance of posters that were posted across the campus, the group were obviously welcome faces and most likely will be again in the future.

Vocalist and guitarist Sarah Smith was very charis- matic given her limited space, encouraging the crowd to get involved and doing everything from jumping up and down to leading the audience through several little in-games. Bassist Shawn Smith kept a steady rhythm throughout the room, and drummer Day-lo pounded out the beats and provided the always fun get-a-clear-picture- of-the-drummer-way-in-the-

back challenge. Lead guitarist Mike used an interesting mix- ture of effects to produce a crisp and echoing lead that soared over the rhythms. The band demonstrated an excellent level of professionalism, from their well-mixed sound to their visiting tables throughout The Wave and introducing them- selves during the mid-show - break. Even when the lyrics were confused on a cover of Bryan Adams' "Summer of “69", they went back and redid the section

back. While there were occa- sions of good wholesome rock, such as a mixture set of various pieces of AC/DE songs and a welcome cover of the classic song "Sweet Child o' Mine", there were several times the opportunity to really let loose and pound out the sound seemed to be missed as the band would pull back and quiet themselves down. Curiously enough, many of the covers seemed to out-rock a lot of their own original material. At times there

excellent vibe only to have it

without miss- | Vocalist and guitarist Sarah |would be an ing so much | Smith was very charismatic as a beat. given her limited space

The

be brought to a

band's self-proclaimed mission is to play great music, and "bring out the joy". They encourage that people come to the shows and forget about everyday life. Sarah Smith cities Weezer as one of her major influences, and there is certainly an air of total non- seriousness about their music. According to the band, they are always happy to see the response that PEI gives them. The crowds may be small, but they know how to have a good time. And certainly, from the vantage point of standing with the mass huddled up toward the stage, that definitely seems to be true.

However, perhaps it was only the small-size of the venue, but at times it seemed as though they were holding

UPEI Cadre February 4, 2004 page 18

screeching halt by an abrupt change in sound. There also seemed to be too much of a reliance on mini-sets composed of bits and pieces of well-know songs from the past several years.

Popjoy is a band that has much more growth to go through, and for the group that is a definite plus. The potential is there, and the audience/band chemistry will be a definite asset to their future shows. Working out some more devel- oped covers and figuring out exactly what they want to sound like will help them make a larger splash as well. After some more developing, the quartet from Ontario may be able to deliver their joy with a much stronger yet sweeter punch.