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PRESS: The Whit Online 09/20/2007
 Amethyst dishes 80s covers to Rowan crowd
Issue date: 9/20/07, Features section
In
a tubular display of rock-o-rama, 80s cover band Amethyst took the
stage on Tuesday night to show the Mark M. Chamberlain Student Center
what's up and bodacious.
Around 60 students were stoked to crowd
the Pit and totally rock out, with radically choice lead singer Kristy
Talorico welcoming everyone via The Bangles' "Walk Like an Egyptian."
It was the first of many jams in a totally fresh set that spanned nearly two hours.
Among
the gnarly hits Amethyst dropped were "Centerfold," "Rebel Yell,"
"Video Killed the Radio Star," "99 Red Balloons," "Love Shack," and an
awesome version of "Sweet Child of Mine" that brought the house down.
While
overall the set got a great reception, guitarist Mike Zaf admitted that
the performance lost a bit of its impact on a crowd consisting largely
of students born in 1989.
"We saw a few blank faces for one or two songs," Zaf said, "but I'd say overall things were great."
Amethyst got its start playing gigs when most of its members were in high school together.
"We
started off playing these songs because that's what was new and popular
at the time," Zaf said. "Then it kind of went away for a while and we
went our separate ways, but it started coming back again … so here we
are."
Students in attendance were invited to dance their hearts
out to the 80s beats whether they were familiar or not. SUP members
handed out t-shirts and sunglasses while dancing around the aisles and
urging their fellow students to join them. A conga line, though perhaps
not entirely appropriate for the music in question, snaked its way
through the seats accompanied by the Profs' mascot, Whoo RU.
Obviously,
this atmosphere was one of fun - and Amethyst's encyclopedic knowledge
of 80s pop tunes made it possible. The band's Web site lists over 130
songs in the band's repertoire. While the band no longer plays around
30 of those songs, they've still got an extensive library.
Unlike
many other shows in the Pit, Amethyst's performance didn't get washed
out by excessive volume or overly produced sound. Everything from
Talorico's vocals to keyboardist Dan O'Leary's keytar sounded crisp
throughout, making it that much easier to appreciate the sound.
After the evening's festivities, Zaf expressed how pleased he was about the boss attendance.
"This
was a really great turnout," he said. "A lot of colleges we go to have
these huge rooms where only around a dozen people show up, and it's
nice to see something different."
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