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On a campus where so many bands classify themselves as alternative, it’s nice to finally find one that truly is an alternative.
Tomorrow’s Retro Future, a new-wave style duo that consists of John W. (Nate Oldham) and Conrad Marshall (Matt Stanford), put on a show that combines screeching vocals with hard rock, slow ballads, action-filled fight scenes, and a dancing skeleton. If you walk into one of their concerts for the first time with any sort of expectations, you can only assume that you will be wrong. This is not to say they aren’t talented or extremely enjoyable, it’s just that the show they put on is guaranteed to be nothing like you’ve ever seen on this campus before. And trust me, as long as you are open-minded, willing to put your musical elitist attitude aside, and ignore what modern pop classifies as “good,” then you will not be disappointed.
The band played in a nearly full Pavilion Theater on Saturday night as a part of Stanford’s senior capstone project. Stanford incorporated a computer program into the show.
The show began five minutes late, which they excused, since it made them “late, like a rock show should be.”
From there the musicians jumped into their original music.
One of the unique aspects of a TRF show that the band’s cult-like fan base goes crazy over is Adolpho Rolo, the dancing skeleton. Rolo bursts onto the stage and begins flailing his arms and dancing to the beat in a unique way that makes you want to stand up and join him. His face is a mystery, since one can only see his eyes peaking out from behind a cheap, plastic skeleton mask that one can assume would appropriately glow in the dark.
Saturday’s show also introduced fans to Evil Adolpho, a taller skeleton who “flunked out of dancing skeleton school.” After beating him away with a slow, ’50s style ballad (which encouraged the crowd members to grab a partner and slow dance), the band cheered and Rolo danced triumphantly.
The project aspect of the show began after a few songs. Two projections appeared at this point on large white boards placed behind them. Each one showed a life-size band member playing an additional instrument.
“I’d just like to welcome the two newest members of our band,” Oldham said. This was followed by a series of screams and enthusiastic applause.
The screens were controlled by a floor mat from a video game.
“I’m a new media major and I’m interested in the evolution of music and music performance,” Stanford said after the show. “When I think about combining these two things I see lots of room for experimentation. Also, Tomorrow’s Retro Future has always been big on introducing new techniques of music performance to audiences.”
Stanford said he views the project as a success and was happy with how it came out, although it was not exactly what he hoped for.
“I allowed myself some wiggle room by calling this an ‘experiment,’” Stanford said. “It didn’t really matter whether or not we failed, because regardless I can learn from this experience. However, I do feel confident that it was successful.”
This success could also be attributed to the fans that came to the show. The band feeds off the unique and diverse fan base that follows it from show to show. A combination of UMaine students, high schoolers and parents, none of the audience was exempt from potential addiction to TRF’s style.
“I think that our cult fan base has a lot to do with the fact that we’re not just doing the same exact thing as every other band,” Oldham said.
Stanford and Oldham continually thank the fans, acknowledging that they are how the band continues on.
“Thank you all for coming,” Stanford said at the end of Saturday’s show. “It means so much to us.”
TRF will be performing at 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 24 at the Bumstock Festival. The band was voted into the festival with the third highest number of votes in Campus Vote 2003 held last November. The band members said that they were disappointed with the time slot they were given, but hope to still deliver a great show.
“Hopefully lots of people will still show up and we’ll be able to give a good show to our fans,” Oldham said. “We joke that there must be some kind of conspiracy against Tomorrow’s Retro Future on campus because we end up getting shafted out of a lot of opportunities to be in shows, but it almost makes it more of an experience when we do get a chance to play.”
Both Oldham and Stanford are graduating this May, which makes the future of TRF uncertain, but they both agree that they do want to continue.
“I’m hoping that we can still find some time to put together some shows, Stanford said. “The collective work that we have done over the past four years seems to be too valuable to just throw away.”
Bangor Daily News