WMRE Presents: Grass Widow

By Bobby WeisblattThis past February, the musically-enlightened communities of greater Atlanta and Emory University came together at the Drunken Unicorn for a memorable night of musical debauchery. WMRE, Emory University’s campus radio, hosted a live show at the locally-renowned venue, conveniently located on Ponce de Leon.The show featured three fantastic bands, opening with the vocally-abstract Gold-Bears, followed by the upbeat Wowser Bowser, and formally punkish Grass Widow. WMRE hosted shuttle buses for Emory students who were granted free admission upon arrival. By 9:30 p.m., the venue was starting to fill with a unique mix of Emory students and local Atlanta music heads. As the attendants eagerly crowded together in front of the stage, the lights finally dimmed, and the first band took to the stage.Gold-Bears is an Atlanta band characterized by well-written and folksy contributions to the alternative genre. The band calmly took their positions on stage and began to exemplify their unique style. Their instrumentation showed a nice bit of alternative jam-band style, providing a smooth progressive pace to get the crowd moving. After a couple songs it became clear that Gold-Bears was distinguished by their abstract but poignant vocals. Lead singer, Jeremy Underwood has an unusual voice reminiscent of the Mountain Goats or Andrew Jackson Jihad. This unusual style is somewhat surprising at first; however, it ultimately gives way to a nice stream of poetic lyrics that demonstrate a great deal of care and personal investment.By the time Gold-Bears concluded their set, the Drunken Unicorn was filled with local residents and Emory students alike, packed side by side, happily amped for the next band that lay before them. As Wowser Bowser began to set up on stage, people in the crowd looked at one another with apprehensive excitement about what was to come. Little did we know that this was going to be the band to absolute blow the roof off.Wowser Bowser is also a local band, made up of members from both Atlanta and Athens. The band members took their positions on stage, and at the center of their set was a small laptop on top of a stool. Each of the members picked up their instruments, and lead singer George Pettis casually pressed the play button on the laptop. However, what came out of the sound system was not a congested set of dubsteppy “bleeps” and “bloops,” but actually, a short vocal sample followed by an extremely simple but progressive beat.As the electronics evolved into a steady rhythm, the band members picked up their instruments and began to absolutely rock out. By the end of the opening song, the entire crowd was turned all the way up and begging for more. Throughout the set, band members proceeded to switch instruments, jump into the crowd, dance, and toss balloons. Wowser Bowser gave off an energy level unlike any band of their nature, and it infectiously found its way into the heart of every person in the crowd. A few fans in the front-center of the crowd appeared to be familiar with Wowser and the style of show they put on, and they thus made it their duty to get everyone in the crowd fully involved in the show’s excitement.By the time Wowser played their last track, everyone was both satisfied, yet thirsty for more. Although that was the conclusion of Wowser Bowser’s extreme levels of energy, the attendants still had a final band to conquer the stage and rock the crowd and the show into a satisfying conclusion.Grass Widow, the all-girl punk band from San Francisco, began their set with a very formal and contained style that contrasted the previous two bands but with no loss talent. As far as image, Grass Widow looks like a full on old school girl-power band, with drummer, Lillian Maring, sporting a perfectly-fitting wavy 70s hair cut, and all band members fit with perfect faces for rock and roll. Lead singer, Hannah Lew has a voice that sounds like Blondie hitting notes all over the spectrum. These variant vocals along with Grass Widow’s concentrated punk instrumentals brought the show to a perfect close that showed skill, but most of all, attitude.At the conclusion of the show, it was clear that although the night was still young, there wasn’t a single crowd member who still had a full tank of energy. From the charm of Gold-Bears, to the energy of Wowser Bowser, and the spunk of Grass Widow, attendants were provided with a wide range of musical bliss. The Drunken Unicorn proved to be a perfect venue for the combination of Atlanta and Emory’s musical interests. WMRE is proud to have brought these two great communities together, and we hope to continue hosting events that will encourage everyone in the area who loves music to get together and rock out as a whole.