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For three hours this Saturday, WMEB will put a soundtrack to the fresh spring season with a free concert. A stream of pop, indie and dance rock will fill Orono’s Keith Anderson Community Center with local acts Feel It Robot, Tony Smokes & The Ladykillers and Boston popsters Pretty & Nice.
“Come to the show ready to be happy. You’re going to be dancing around,” said Michelle Ortega, WMEB promotions manager. “We always like to do a spring show just because once that snow melts, everyone’s kind of itching to get out and move around.”
The event will run from 9 p.m. to midnight. Each group will play for 40 minutes to an hour. Tony Smokes & The Ladykillers will start the festivities with their unkempt, no-frills brand of lo-fi indie rock. The four-piece features UMaine student Kegan Zema and Portland natives Owen Keiter, Dylan Martin and Ally Falconer.
Ortega said the gig will move at a faster clip than typical concerts. Feel It Robot will play in a corner on the floor, meaning there will be no set-up time waits on the stage.
“Feel It Robot is famous for convincing people to take off their pants. Come to the show with underwear,” Ortega said with a laugh. “Highly recommended.”
The six-piece Feel It Robot incorporates a tuba, saxophone and multiple keyboards into their unique dance rock style. The band had a recent hiatus but now has several concerts booked through May.
“It should rock the faces off anyone who comes,” said A-Bot, the group’s saxophonist. An audience member last fall, A-Bot is excited to be on “the other side of things” for his first Orono performance with the band. He called Feet It Robot’s Halloween set one of the most fun gigs he’d ever seen.
“We have great local bands,” Ortega said. “This made the show easy to book,” she said. “We’re always trying to bring a variety, we never want to have the same style.”
Pretty & Nice will visit Orono from Boston. They’ll take part in a live in-studio performance on WMEB on Saturday from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m.
WMEB will promote itself and the impending signal upgrade that will cover as far as Waterville. The station traditionally hosts one Halloween and spring show each year.
She said WMEB has a musically tolerant staff that enjoys a variety of music. The station aims to extend this vibe to the local music landscape.
“The music scene we’re trying to cultivate, it’s definitely a community,” Ortega said.
The free show embodies this community spirit.
“The bands were really good about working with us for lower prices,” Ortega said. The Keith Anderson Community Center also generously offered the radio station a discounted booking rate.
