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It was standing room only in the North Dining Room of Memorial Union on Tuesday night for the third and final qualifying round of Java Jive: The Project. The talent has been competitive so far in this acoustic music contest, with the first qualifying round yielding three solo semi-finalists in Jason Pote, Rachel Joyce and Erik Schwab. The second round was dominated by bands with The Choice Professionals (Nick Mather, guitar; Karl Varian, trumpet) and Sprinkletown (Patrick Gill, ukulele, James Marcel, uke/melodica; Aimee Poulin, tambourine/maraca; Derek Wheelden, guitar) advancing. As a result, tension was high for the last qualifying round featuring both solo and band acts, and many of the already qualified were present to scout the competition.
First up was Miles Hanson who very confidently began his set with two original compositions with heartfelt vocal, and churning guitar. His final song was a cover of Bright Eyes’ “Bowl of Oranges” in which Miles switched to some type of conga-like drum and was accompanied by a friend from the audience on guitar. It was a good upbeat cover choice, with great enunciation on some tricky lyrics.
Next up was Dave Sprague – some may know him as ‘Action Jack’ – playing guitar and piano, and David Smith accompanying on piano. Their first song was a cover of The Format’s “Matches” featuring Sprague on vocals and Smith on piano. The vocals were incredibly passionate, and seemed to take the audience aback coming from the relatively diminutive singer. The trend continued in the next song, an original titled “Dotted Lines” written “about a girl” featuring Sprague on piano and vocals. The piano playing was excellently manic-depressive and the vocals were in a Jeff Tweedy-esque realm of hope and collapse, lamenting, “I’m just wasting time.” On their last song, Smith returned to the piano and Sprague picked up the guitar and sang the original “On My Way” which again walked the fine line between hope and despair. While the reaction to this performance was mixed, it was a display of great musical pathos, perhaps underappreciated.
Next up was Josh Gastonguay who began his set with a cover of The Foo Fighters’ “Everlong” which he felt was written by the “greatest musician in the world after David Bowie.” Next was a hilarious cover of the Tenacious-D tune “Karate” which was interesting as Gastonguay happened to resemble Jack Black himself. He rounded out his set with the arena classic “Simple Man” by Lynyrd Skynyrd. Overall, he followed a pretty tough act but the stiffest competition was yet to come.
Fourth up was Brianna Finnegan, who seemed to be an audible crowd favorite. She began her set with an untitled song which demonstrated her significant vocal gifts. She elaborated on her next song, a cover of Marc Broussard’s “Gavin’s Song.” She really kicked it into high gear with her final song, an ambitious cover of “Sexual Healing” by Marvin Gay which showed off her capacity for both deeply soulful and high fluttering vocals. She also got the crowd involved and clapping along. For the icing on the cake, she performed an impromptu filler set with audience member Jon Bailey, which was a medley of Sufjan Stevens’ “Casimir Pulaski Day/Chicago.” It was a great spontaneous moment, and the applause was loud.
Last to perform was Sons of David, a guitar duo made up of Jonah Bruce and Geoff Debree. They began their set with an original song called “Taking Advantage” which featured powerful vocals from Debree and piercing solo lines from both players. Their next song, also original, was called “Blame” and ventured into a funkier realm, especially with the guitar work which was again very sharp and locked in. For their final song, they called “Two Meag[h]an’s” – Meaghan Brown and Meagan Emery – onto the stage to perform a group cover of Guster’s “Demons”.
While the talent pool was fertile, ultimately it came down to who best satisfied the three judging categories: musicality, stage presence, and audience interaction. The anticipation was high when the announcement came that Brianna Finnegan and Sons of David had advanced to the semi-final round. They will be in good company on Tuesday, March 25 in the North Dining Hall of Memorial Union at 8:00 p.m. for the eagerly awaited semi-final round.
Bangor Daily News