LU Rocked Out to Spring Weekend Bands

During the past week, the weather had not been able to make up its mind, but the sun finally came out to shine on Saturday, April 18 during Spring Weekend 2009. The sunny afternoon of music, brought to campus by Lancer Productions (LP), began at 2 p.m. with EarthTone Crew, a unique sounding group based in Richmond, VA. Their motto is "stronger together than we are apart" and according to their MySpace page, they sound like "nothing you've ever heard before." They list their genres as "Hip-hop, rap, rock, pop, and progressive." What is interesting is that one of their members is named Corey Smith, which coincidentally is the same name and spelling of the main country act, Corey Smith that would headline later on Saturday night. Their different sound set the high-powered tone of the afternoon and attracted a crowd that would only grow as the day went by.

The first performer of three Georgia-based acts came when Nathan Angelo took the stage to expose the crowd to his soul-like piano music style. He released his debut album, "Through Playing Me" in 2006 and is currently working on a new demo CD. This unsigned southern voice rocked the smaller stage of the day with songs like "Love Sucks," "Born to Love You" and "Someday Soon."

Being the only rap act of the afternoon, Shwayze had a lot to live up to with the Longwood crowd. Originally from Malibu, Calif., Shwayze's real name is Aaron Smith and he came up with his stage name by mashing his name with Patrick Swayze's. He was discovered while working at a local Starbucks coffee shop and had a show that aired on MTV last summer called "Buzzin'." He drew the biggest crowd of the day during his hour-long set in the late afternoon. Shwayze performed his hit songs "Corona and Lime" and "Buzzin'" for the crowd, which most seemed to enjoy while crowd surfing.

Up next on the bill was Always Morning, an alternative rock band from Blacksburg, VA that consists of Virginia Tech college students. According to their vocalist, "The name itself, Always Morning, is a perfect description of the band's outlook on their musical journey - there is always a new day ahead, life to be lived, and lessons to be learned." They preformed song such as "On Tops of Mountains," "Late For Life" and "Return to Normalcy."

"Are you ready for the best show of your life?!" yelled the announcer for the next act. "Here's the Zac Brown Band!" This Georgia-based country band featured energetic frontman Zac Brown and crew banging out jams with organs, pedal steel and mandolins. Their major label debut, "The Foundation" was released in November 2008 on Atlantic Records and they have been touring relentlessly to promote it. Their hit song, "Chicken Fried," is a catchy back-porch anthem that is inspired partially with Zac Brown being a chef. "Chicken Fried" has been nominated for two Country Music Television (CMT) Awards, Group Video of the Year, and USA Weekend Breakthrough Video of the Year, which are determined by fan votes. The first round voting began on April 13 and ends May 11th. Some of their other songs are also about food, such as "Sic 'Em On a Chicken."

As the sun set behind Stubbs, Steph Jones, a southern R&B singer, took the stage. His set was rather entertaining due to the props he used, such as posing as alien who could only communicate through music. At one point, he held up a heart cut out of construction paper, proclaimed that he was heartbroken, and tore it in half on stage. He sang tracks from his EP "Shooting Star," including the title track"Shooting Star," "Mr. Ordinary" and "La La Means Love."

The final band of the night, and the last of three Georgian acts of the day, was Corey Smith. This unsigned southern country rocker entertained the crowd with his lively stage presence and several straight-from-the-heart songs. This frontman thrives on acoustic guitar numbers laid on head-bobbing drum beats and steady bass lines. He is currently working on his sixth album to be released later this year. He played his popular songs such as "If I Could Do It Again" and "I'm Not Gonna Cry" for the crowd and was a delightful end of a beautiful day of good music.

Overall, the Spring Weekend 2009 band performances were a success. The crowd was biggest in the late afternoon for Shwayze and Zac Brown Band, as opposed to headliner Corey Smith who played last, but LP did a good job finding groups that would entertain the crowd and make for a memorable Spring Weekend. Bring on Spring Weekend 2010!