FTW, 4.5.2024

I went back to Southwest High School to hear the students from the Music and Sound Design Program of Choice perform their Spring Concert in the school's auditorium. (I'd been there the week before to hear them working things out in the school courtyard.) It was the last period on a Friday, and the kids who filled the room had bought $2 tickets to hear their friends perform. First downbeat was at 2:30, but program director Marco "Mr. Trillz" Petrilli had advised me to get their before 2:00 to ensure I got a parking spot (presumably because families would be attending).

The Is-ness Bizness band -- Emmanuel Aremu (drums), Darius Johnson (bass), Adrian Moore (keyboard), and Axel Aguayo (lead guitar) -- kicked things off, and an early highlight was "Is-ness," an original on which a pre-recorded track of the band (with pianist Luis DeLeon, absent on Friday) accompanied vocalist Alice (singing in Arabic), rapper/campus monitor Mr. Houze, and the horn section of Roberto Caldera (sax) and Tristan Anderson (trumpet). Alice sang the Arabic lyrics to the 1948 version of "Misirlou" and led her schoolmates in waving their phone flashlights over their heads in rhythm. Then a band consisting of Aguayo and Cristian Sanchez (guitars), Jackson ODaniel (bass), Hannah Stevens (drums), and Anderson (trumpet) took the stage to perform the Dick Dale arrangement of "Misirlou." The sound on this tune in the auditorium was much improved from what I'd heard outside the week before, with the two guitars' distinctive parts (Aguayo low, Sanchez high) more clearly audible. (Some mixing issues with the vocal mics were resolved as the show progressed.) Aguayo finished the set by playing his version of the Eddie Van Halen showpiece "Eruption."

Lead singer Kirey from the band Saira was absent from school Friday, but her bandmates Mali (guitar), Monserratt (bass), and Chloe (drums) performed sans vox and got big love from the crowd for their original and a cover of Christina Vidal's "Take Me Away" from the Freaky Friday movie. A nice surprise for me (not heard the week before) was the band Careless Romances, who had an interesting instrumentation -- vox, guitar, bass, drums, and keytar -- and played with real punk energy on Arctic Monkeys' "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" and one other tune. (Their guitarist, Ranyia Clements, also performed emcee duties when Mr. Trillz was otherwise occupied.) The duo Silvet, fronted by Jackson ODaniel on guitar and vox, followed with more punkitude -- an original "Moonlight Envy" and a Misfits cover. ODaniel stayed up to play with ParaSights (himself, Jet on vox, Luke Lunsford on bass, Hannah Stevens on drums) on their version of the Misfits' "Teenagers from Mars," another show highlight which brought the guitarist from Careless Romances and the drummer from Saira out dancing, inciting their schoolmates to dance in the aisles (although a wide section in front of the stage was taped off to avoid a reprise of the previous year's mosh pit). DJ Amare Tutt ran the live mix and kept the energy up with his between-set selections.

The Is-ness Bizness band returned, augmented by Mr. Trillz on rhythm guitar, to back Tae (Tamia Washington), a powerful, soulful singer who projected strong emotion on two originals, "Autumn Memories" and "Happy for Awhile." An instrumental version of "Black Magic Woman" featuring Aguayo followed, setting the stage for the climactic set by Niyaa (Aniya Walker), an elegant R&B vocalist who performed three originals: "I Can't," "Faded," and "Silent Feelings." On the last two she was accompanied by a special guest, her producer and Southwest alum Money Reezy, and on the final tune, Is-ness drummer Emmanuel Aremu played live with the track -- my favorite moment of the afternoon. The band Cicada -- Mariana Cazares (vox), Gannon McDonald (guitar/vox), Preston Moore (drums), and Is-ness's Darius Johnson subbing for Mateo Perez (bass) -- had the unenviable task of playing up till the dismissal bell, which triggered a mass exodus from the auditorium. The band played on, though, showcasing McDonald's dissonant guitar and guttural vocal stylings. The show was well documented by students from Southwest's media tech crew, whose photos appear above.