An ‘Out-Of-This-World’ Evening at Dazed

Ancient Spaceship and Mimicking Mars shine bright in Dazed’s night sky on October 18th.

Words by Jaymee Hinz / Graphic by Michael Loya

For their October 18th show, Syracuse’s darling student venue Dazed (formally of Redgate fame) instructed their audience to look to the stars for their outfit selection, which was natural given the space-adjacent names of both bands performing that night. The people of Euclid Ave got the memo loud and clear, bustling into a packed house with intergalactic gear aplenty, including glow sticks, neon visors, and red Among Us crewmates. Despite the cosmic ambitions for the evening, the musical palette on display was considerably more earthlike, with plenty of riotous indie rock and tunes that wouldn’t feel out of place in the far, far away galaxy of 2003. Nevertheless, the juxtaposition made for an evening equally accessible as it was intensely cerebral.

Following a fantastic showing at Crater just two weekends prior, indie rock quintet Mimicking Mars came out with a fantastic groove-driven indie rock sound complimentary of the moody instrumental opener “Rustica”, which prepared the crowd for the entrancing vibes ahead. Once their performances kicked into gear, vocalist Jeremy Lanuti provided the yelping delivery reminiscent of the better sides of the 2000s garage rock revival, allowing for the oblique vocal harmonies on cuts like “Lyrics” to punch so effectively. The bass work courtesy of Robert Wilhelm was an immediate draw for the night, perfectly providing the counter-balance for James Dawson’s melodic riffs. The band’s knack for seamless transitions was essential to maintaining the energy across their entire setlist, with tracks flowing effortlessly together, keeping the audience in their trance.

In regards to their song selections, the band ran with entirely original material, barring a fantastically groovy rendition of the Beatles’ classic “Eleanor Rigby”, where the bass picked up a thicker texture reminiscent of 2000s progressive metal.

Despite the risks that come with getting over unfamiliar choruses to disaffected collegiates, the crowd was engaged throughout, always willing to bob their heads as the band ripped through their discography. The fantastic bridge breakdowns in “Squirrels In a Hurry” by drummer Josh Leviseur set the stage for an ambitious extended jam section that kept the pit invested. While the sole Beatles cover unsurprisingly garnered the greatest audience participation, the original melodies definitely resonated with the crowd, and backup singing significantly increased as choruses were repeated throughout the song.

The patrons of Redgate were treated to two of MM’s currently unreleased tracks, the first of which being “Zachary Thompson” (or simply ZT). ZT is an enjoyable poppy tune most notable for its seamless keyboard integration building to Grant Harding’s well-earned solo and its remarkably smooth bridge crescendo, making for easily the band’s most jazz-inspired moment of the whole performance. The new tune went over so well with the crowd that the foot-thumping bounce of “She Likes” garnered some considerable motion within the pit. The second original track came with the closer, “$4.75”, a track driven by a snider vocal melody that wouldn’t be out of place in modern Midwestern emo. The rest of the composition stays closer to their common sound, which is to say sufficiently funky and infectious, barring the spiky guitar flourish seen across the pre-chorus, sending the band out on another fantastic note.

Our closers for the night were Buffalo’s immensely talented Ancient Spaceship, who were gleeful to match the hypnotism Mimicking Mars initially cultivated. With vocalist Stone Camillo nasally careening across the tracks, elongated notes accentuated the established pace. The band was quick to highlight their vacancy at the lead guitar for the evening, calling for the frankly heroic efforts of Matt Wood to fill in, which he did remarkably so, busting out rhythmic chords during their frequent musical deviations. Rhythm guitarist John Webster’s work was also quite the spectacle, as the two dueled in producing soaring solo riffs that ensnared the audience’s attention across three separate jam sessions stuffed into the first half of their set.

Familiar tunes kept the engagement running high, with “Let’s Dance” being the hypothetical result of if IDLES were Pitchfork darlings twenty years ago. For most of their runtime, the goal was simple: be fuzzy, groovy, catchy. It was commendable how much every off-kilter moment meshed together during their runtime, with drummer Patrick Santora able to rip finger-snapping solos presumably on command. As mentioned above, the moments of more conventional structures were paramount to the set’s success, roaring along with the run of “Never-Ending Bliss”, “Where Did She Go?”, and “Remember Me” (their version being most reminiscent of Tame Impala’s interpretation).

Bathed in psychedelic lighting and jam-packed with aspiring aliens, Dazed cultivated an otherworldly atmosphere for quite a memorable Friday night.