Panther Prints

Get The Big Picture: Are You Moxy?

by Aldera Chisholm and Jennifer Caseley

How do you like to spend your Friday nights? If you are like us, Friday nights are best spend dancing, laughing, singing, and drinking ‘‘kool-aid’’ with friends. Friday, October 20 was one of those nights. On that night, the Barn opened its stage to Moxy Fruvous. An up-and-coming Nova Scotia band called Big Picture opened for Moxy.

The music started shortly after 10:00 pm to a sparse crowd. However, once Big Picture began playing, the audience made up for their small numbers with a lot of enthusiasm. The band played a mix of original and cover songs, including the theme song to The Littlest Hobo. Yes, you read that correctly, we did mean the televi- sion show. Big Picture consists of five guys from Dartmouth: Christopher Church on

some of their newer, more serious songs, but the crowd screamed for ‘‘King of Spain.”’ While we all like the older songs, it seemed rude and obnoxious for the crowd to inter- rupt the band, particularly when the band announced that the song would be played later. Once everyone calmed down, we found the new songs to be great.

For those of you who have had your noses buried in calculus books for the last few years, Moxy Fruvous consists of David Matheson, Jean Ghomeshi, Murray Foster, and Mike Ford. They play a mix of satirical comedy and pop music. Their first album, Bargainville, was packed with the comedy that they are now famous for. However, their latest album entitled Wood has a more serious tone. Jean Ghomeshi said that the band has felt pressure to retain their comedic side but ‘‘we ignored it for Wood,

Moxy Fruvous at the Barn

violin, Julian Marentette on drums, brothers Asif and Shehab Illyas on guitar and bass respectively, and vocalist Benny Fong. They have been together for two years, and have just produced their first video. When we asked Big Picture how they felt about playing in a barn, they remarked that this was not a new experience for the band, as one of their first gigs was in a barn in the Annapolis Valley.

In the lull between bands, one blond girl led the crowd in the chant ‘‘Moxy, Moxy!’’ Moxy Fruvous did not keep us waiting for long as they quickly launched into a mix of old favourites and some new songs. The majority of the set consisted of the hit comedy songs from their album Bargainville. The band attempted to play

we wanted to make an album to listen to over and over again.’’ During our post- concert interview we also asked the guys some very perninent, serious questions like ‘*What are you going to be for Halloween?’’ The answers varied from Dog Food Bags to an Air Conditioner. Moxy Fruvous gave a good show overall, even though the set seemed a bit short.

Hey Finley, if you are reading this, everyone loved Big Picture and we think they deserve to headline a concert at the Barn sometime soon. This concert was one of a series of great events at The Barn, so keep your ears open for upcoming events.

Thanks to Ryan the sound guy -- thanks for the offer, maybe next time!

October 31

Big Picture, October 20

SNFU at the Barn, Oct.19

Lizard, Oct.19, the Barn