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Memorial Union witnessed a tense night of music on Tuesday for the final round of The Project, the University of Maine’s acoustic equivalent of American Idol. The final four had 20 minutes each and talent was overflowing, but there could only be one winner – and for 2007 it was Jon Bailey.
Opening with a ’60s-flavored section of “These Days” by Nico, melting into “Angeles” by Elliot Smith, Jon Bailey launched his captivating set full of striking vocals and intricate guitar. He played the acoustic theme from cult UMaine student-created series “Dragonshirts,” which ended in a triumphant fist-led salute from members of the audience. His original “Red-Blooded American Boys” followed. Bailey was then joined by friends Sara Richardson and Jocelyn Emery for a beautifully harmonized cover of “I Will Follow You Into the Dark,” by Death Cab for Cutie. Chattering between songs and radiating effortless presence onstage, he finished with another original, “Some Day, Some Boy,” and received a strong response from the crowd.
“I just wasn’t ready for it,” said Bailey about winning. “It’s such a strange thing, because I like all the other acts and really I feel like we’re just catering to the judges’ personal taste, which is odd – I feel guilty, because I want them to win just as much as I want me to win.”
He currently has no plans for his hefty $500 gift certificate to Mark’s Music. “I tried not to think about spending it because I didn’t want to count my chicks before they were hatched,” he said. “I really have no idea what I’m gonna do with it, but I’ll find some smart investment for it.”
He was thoroughly pleased with his success. “It’s a really good feeling,” Bailey explained. “It’s a mixture of me being excited for myself and proud because of working hard and preparing for it, but it’s also a mixture of just being glad I got a chance to perform with these other fantastic musicians.”
Second place went to The Choice Professionals. The duo played a fully original set of their self-styled edgy trumpet-rock, juxtaposing aggressive and subtle vocals and lyrics. They included the ever-popular “Just Like Anybody” and “The Lindsey Lohan Song” and were clearly enjoying themselves onstage.
“We feel awesome, it’s great,” said guitarist and vocalist Nicholas Mathers about placing second. “We did what we do and we didn’t really expect to win,” he added, but the guys hadn’t realised they had also won a runner-up $200 gift certificate for Mark’s Music. To put it simply, they were thrilled.
“Oh, awesome, yeah! We didn’t know we had money!” they exclaimed when they found out. “It will definitely go towards the CD production for this summer,” said Karl Varian. Serious plans for their upcoming album are well underway and Mathers was also sporting a TCP T-shirt. Check out their Facebook fan-group for more information and to keep updated with news on the group.
Sons of David – duo Jonah Bruce and Geoff DeBree – gave a solid performance of steady rock earlier in the evening. They sang some original staples, such as “Recognize Defeat” and “I Wonder,” that exhibited their polished guitar work and DeBree’s powerful vocals, and ended on a classic cover of Radiohead’s “Creep.”
Miles Hanson opened the night, accompanied by Scott Batsen on guitar and combined a few originals with a couple of covers – including a great rendition of “Give Me One Reason” by Tracy Chapman and initiated the crowd participation with a fun cover of “Sweet Caroline” by Neil Diamond.
Tuesday was the culmination of a whole semester of acoustic music at UMaine and marked the last Java Jive of the spring.
Bangor Daily News