Local promotions and booking company Diamonds in the Rough Promotions (DITR Promotions) booked Detroit experimental indie pop band Phantasmagoria along with Midland experimental chillwave/surf artist Yoke, local “tape loop wizard” Totally Boring and the debut of local indie pop/folk group Wavvy Hands.

Mount Pleasant resident Scott Blount said he was enjoying the current artist on-stage, Totally Boring.

“Do you hear this? You don’t hear stuff like this anywhere else. It’s so different,” Blount said.

He said he was most excited to see Wavvy Hands, as it was the groups’ first show after practicing and writing music for about one month.

“I used to listen to Andrew’s (lead-singer) stuff before Wavvy Hands,” Blount said. “It’s interesting, progressive and not typical. A lot of popular music today has the same consistency and this stuff is never the same.”

Wavvy Hands consists of Mount Pleasant residents Andrew Kauervane on guitar and vocals, Nadia Leatz on keyboard and vocals and Corey Densmore on synthesizer and keyboard.

“Even though it’s really cheesy and ‘Beck-ish’ to say this, I love playing heart-felt music with whatever’s available to me to play,” Kauervane said. “I want to make music you can listen to while you’re walking around — music for adventuring nomads.”

DITR Promotions said they were really excited to bring the two-person psychedelic pop group Phantasmagoria to the area. Lianna Vanicelli, percussionist and vocalist, and Chris Jarbis, producer and synthesizer player, said the name came from a sentence from the book “Into the Wild.”

Detroit residents Lianna Vanicelli, left and Chris Jarvis, right, play out to the crowd during their first performance in Mt. Pleasant as Phantasmagoria Thursday night at Rubbles Bar, 112 W. Michigan St. Phantasmagoria, a psychedelic/soul/pop band, started almost a year ago today in Detroit. After the bands first appearance in Mount Pleasant, they will be returning to play Midwest Music Festival on Saturday, Sept. 29. (Victoria Zegler/Staff Photographer)

“Phantasmagoria is a series of images that create surreal moments in time — a dream-like reality,” Jarbis said.

The duo said they’ve been making music for about five years, originally playing upbeat indie folk and more recently earning respect in the electro scene. Jarbis said Vanicelli’s haunting, powerful and soulful vocals fit well with his samples of nature sounds, like birds and water.

Jarbis said he is most influenced by Radiohead.

“Our music has an adventurous vibe,” Jarbis said. “Certain sounds and melodies create the inspiring and uplifting feeling.”

DITR Promotions has been booking bands since 2007 and is responsible for the upcoming music festival Midwest Fest at the end of September. A full schedule of area shows is listed at ditrpromotions.com.

The departure of CMU students remains a regular cause of slower operations, staffing cuts and reduced hours for several bars, restaurants and other establishments in the area.

Shift manager Rich Ryan said a drop in customers is quite noticeable, but business carries on at student-oriented restaurants such as Menna’s Joint, 1418 S. Mission St.

“Students still order — there are always people,” he said.

Between the spring and fall semesters at CMU, the Menna’s Joint workforce is cut by more than half, Ryan said.

The clientele at the Bird Bar & Grill, 223 S. Main St., consists of a steady mix of students and community members, said manager Melissa Burgtras. She said the establishment sees less of a hit to sales and attendance during the summer months because many customers remain.

“We maintain a lot of customers,” Burgtras said. “There are certain days when there are more students and certain days when there are more local business people.”

Thursday at the bar is most popular for students, while many locals are seen on Fridays, Burgtras said. She believes a lot of students remain in Mount Pleasant this season.

Brian Lombard, a manager for Chippewa Cab & Limo, 1608 N. Fancher St., said the service is well-diversified and includes airport, casino and medical transportation. The business still finds itself serving a fair amount of people in the summertime, mostly community members.

“With students gone, it hurts business all over town,” Lombard said.

Rubbles Bar, 112 W. Michigan St., hosts local musical talent on a weekly basis to attract customers.

The shows continue into the summertime, but make the shift to Friday and Saturday, rather than the Thursday and Friday performance schedule followed during the fall and spring semesters. Performing bands often hail from Mount Pleasant, but groups from outside of mid-Michigan have also performed at the bar.

Manager Melissa Gross said business is noticeably affected, but even those who are not CMU students still show up to support their favorite local artists.

“We have a lot of locals who come in to watch the bands,” she said. “The dynamics change a bit more.”

Live musical performances also continue at Kaya Coffee and Tea Co., 1029 S. University Ave. However, hours are reduced throughout the week, said manager Elly Cotton. Open Mic Night is not usually hosted between the spring and fall semesters.

“We see more community members, but we still see some students,” Cotton said.

Regardless of their products or services, many local business owners agreed students make up a large portion of Mount Pleasant’s customer base.

“Without a doubt, (CMU’s) Welcome Weekend is the busiest time of the year,” Ryan said.

The band is composed of Mount Pleasant senior Alex Ball, Central Michigan University alumnus C.J. Opperthauser, Farmington Hills resident Evan Sherman and senior Stephen Sherbrook, also of Farmington Hills.

Bloomill, a band that defines its own genre, does not have a studio-recorded CD to sell.

“We all have very, very distinct influences,” Sherbrook said. “For some reason when we all get together and play, they all turn into whatever sound we are.”

Bloomill began as a project between Opperthauser, Sherman and Sherbrook in 2007 when the three attended high school together in Farmington Hills. After playing with a band called That Mustache Feeling, of which Ball was a member, the four found a connection.

Bloomill’s manager, Temperance senior Tom Mayer, is responsible for booking shows and keeping the website updated.

He said listeners should not focus on labels, but rather enjoy the unique sound of the band.

“They sound pretty sweet,” he said. “They’re combining a bunch of different things I’ve never heard combined before.”

Some of the members’ influences include blues, progressive, jam bands, metal and rock ‘n’ roll.

Opperthauser said if he were to label Bloomill’s sound, it would be “jam blues rock ‘n’ roll rock progressive metal.”

“We’re just enough jam band to make jam bands like us, and we’re just not enough jam band to make people that usually think that jam bands jam for too long not think that we jam for too long,” Ball said.

France senior Alexandre Dominguez has been to every local show Bloomill has performed at since first hearing of them in February.

“I’m a musician and I love their sound,” he said.

Bloomill plays between three and five shows a month in and around Mount Pleasant, including venues such as Rubbles Bar, 112 W. Michigan St., Wayside Central, 2000 S. Mission St. and Riverwood Golf Resort, 1313 E. Broomfield Road. Though Ball, Opperthauser and Sherbrook all live in Mount Pleasant, Sherman has to commute to performances, which cuts practice time down to an hour and a half before shows.

“I think there’s one summer we’re still coasting off of,” Sherman said. “We practiced pretty much every day for the entire summer for hours on end.”

In addition to performing shows, Bloomill is in the beginning stages of recording their first CD.

“It’s going to be a combination of songs you’ve never heard and songs you haven’t heard in two years,” Sherbrook said.

Opperthauser said the hardest part of relearning old songs is working Ball into the old material — which was written for three performers.

Though all the members of Bloomill said they appreciate the free beer and the $10 to $17 they make from each show, they all agreed they play for personal reasons.

“I love playing music,” Sherbrook said. “I grew up listening to music and I always wanted to know what they were doing. I’m an engineering student, and I just like knowing how things work.”

The band, which hails from Lansing is familiar to many Mount Pleasant residents because of their frequent gigging at Rubbles Bar, 112 W. Michigan St. They performed with Good Weather for Airstrikes and Jetpack On! during Thursday’s show at Rubbles Bar.

Elliot Street Lunatic guitarist and vocalist Jason Marr said his band makes it a point to perform at Rubbles every month.

“We always have a great turnout here,” he said. “We’ve been having our stuff aired on the radio a lot up here, so it’s been helping our turnout.”

Marr said Elliot Street Lunatic is preparing to release a new single, “Richard” on Modern Rock 91.5 either this week or next week.

Bassist and backing vocalist Jordan Hahn said after the release of their first album, Elliot Street Lunatic’s sound has been classified as “indie space rock.”

“I think right now the Michigan music scene is amazing,” he said. “I don’t think we’re special by any means, I think we do a little bit of different style than anyone else.”

Hahn said Elliot Street Lunatic uses a mixture of a lot of harmonies and a lot of straightforward rock. The spacey and echoing sound, he said, is created by the use of a lot of delay pedals, something unique to Elliot Street Lunatic.

Elliot Street Lunatic is not currently signed to a label, but has released one album, “Stories from the Void,” in 2007.

Hahn said the band has been working on new material, and has between eight and 10 songs to work on for their next album.

“It’s just a matter of figuring out where we want to record and who we want to go through to record,” he said.
Marr said Elliot Street Lunatic is also preparing for a summer tour.

Though the band has typically taken short three-day tours around the state, he said, their summer tour will kick off May 17 and last for a week or two. Marr said Elliot Street Lunatic plans to play between seven to 10 shows throughout the tour, and will hit Chicago, Denver and Nashville, among other locations.

Laingsburg senior Christine Holyfield said she enjoys the unique sound Elliot Street Lunatic has.

She made an appearance at Thursday’s show at Rubbles to hear Elliot Street Lunatic perform.

“They always rock,” she said. “Anytime they’re in Mount Pleasant I go.”

Holyfield said she was excited to hear Elliot Street Lunatic’s new single air on Modern Rock 91.5, because she’s never been let down by any of the band’s work in the past.

Holyfield said she also thinks Rubbles is a great way for local students and residents to hear new music.

“As we all know, there’s not much going on in the music scene in Mount Pleasant, so Rubbles is the place to go to just see what’s out there,” she said.

Elliot Street Lunatic’s next Mount Pleasant appearance will take place 10 p.m. on March 17, when the band will play with My Dear Disco and Bloomill at Rubbles.

After a nuclear holocaust devastated the world, a handful of human survivors took refuge within Moscow’s underground metro system.

Now, years later, the metro is their home. The survivors must fend off the mutated monsters created by the intense radiation left behind in the nuclear aftermath.

As you traverse the dark tunnels of the metro and the barren landscapes of the world above, you will witness the game’s wonderfully creepy atmosphere as you battle for your life and for the salvation of mankind.

“Metro 2033” is an awesome game and offers an exciting campaign that you won’t soon forget.

-Ryan Taljonick

“You” by Gold Panda

The lead track from Gold Panda’s debut LP, “Shiner,” is a wonderfully crafted club banger that — evidenced by Dom Fracassa’s DJ set at Rubbles Bar this past weekend — has the power to get a room of people up out of their seats and onto the dance floor.

The track works just as well in solitude as it does in a crowded room, making it an excellent soundtrack for the walk to class. Get it on your iPod and it’ll give you all the drive you need to make it to 8 a.m.

-Ben Weissenborn

Rubbles Bar will host a Back to School Bash on Friday August 20. The show will feature local favorites Jetpack On! headlining with Elliott Street Lunatic and Day In Day Out.

“It should be a good time,” said sound technician Corey Densmore. “This place will be packed.”

For the past 22 years, Rubbles bar owner Tom Minelli has provided a service to the residents of Mount Pleasant scarcely offered elsewhere — live music.

Minelli bought Rubbles nearly 22 years ago and has since been the only consistent live music venue in town since.

“I’m the only rock and blues entertainment in town,” the Mount Pleasant resident said. “We have shows every weekend, usually Thursday through Saturday.”

Located at 112 W. Michigan St., Minelli said Rubbles is often overlooked by those new to the town because it is “off the main drag.”

Densmore has been the sound technician for live shows at Rubbles for about two and a half years. He said he likes what Rubbles brings to the community.

“Rubbles is about the only place in town that has live music,” Densmore said. “Where else can you go that has a live band on a regular basis in town?”

He said he thinks it is important to support local music.

Though Rubbles is at its core a bar, Minelli said that all shows are just 18-and-up. The only catch is that those under 21 have to pay a few dollars more to get in.

“I was skeptical before I went for the first time too, especially when I had to pay a cover, but it was worth it and I’m there every weekend,” Densmore said.

Local music and live entertainment is not the only thing the bar has on tap, however.

Mount Pleasant residents Dave and Laura McGuire said they have been coming to Rubbles for 21 years and over the course of their patronage they have developed a close friendship not only with Minelli, but other customers as well.

“We have a very tight-knit group here,” Dave McGuire said. “Plus the owner’s a great guy and it’s just a great place to hang with friends.

Diamonds in the Rough Promotions hosted its last show of the semester Thursday at Rubble’s Bar, 112 W. Michigan St. But DITR Promotions founder Corey Densmore said the company will not completely stop serving Mount Pleasant.

Densmore said DITR is going to slow down because of his new employment at Reggie’s Rock Club, 2109 S. State Street in Chicago.

“I’ll keep doing shows in Michigan, but just probably less so in Mount Pleasant,” Densmore said. “The bands I’ll be booking in Chicago usually don’t play a market as small as Mount Pleasant.”

DITR Promotions’ next show in Mount Pleasant is expected to be on Jan. 22, 2010.

Lake Orion junior Joe Hertler has been to many DITR shows and believes it is a bummer that there will be fewer shows.

“There’s just bigger and better things in Chicago,” Hertler said.

Rubble’s bartender Gregg Brimmer said business has increased since DITR Promotions started doing shows.

“It shouldn’t affect us negatively,” Brimmer said of DITR slowing down.

Step up

Brimmer believes DITR Promotions did help Rubble’s get back in touch with Central Michigan University.

“I’m definitely going to miss someone booking shows who’s in touch with the younger crowd,” Brimmer said.

Augie Visocchi, 27, guitarist and vocalist of The Hard Lessons, who headlined DITR’s last show of the semester Thursday, hopes someone
will step up when Densmore moves to Chicago early next year.

“He made a music scene where one didn’t exist,” Visocchi said. “Someone needs to step up to the plate or else the scene is going to dry up
again.”

Densmore said the steady income from his new job will come in handy.

“I think it will help DITR in the future,” Densmore said. “(DITR) will be able to take more risks, and it’s either a hit or miss in Michigan because of the economy.”

Densmore will be booking shows for Mount Pleasant while working in Chicago.

“I’ll still make it back for quite a few of the shows because I’ll have a flexible schedule in Chicago,” he said. “We’ll see how it goes, that’s the plan for now.”

Cougars, older women who chase after younger men, find the bars are the best way to find what they are looking for.

“We have a decent cougar population,” said Greg Brimmer, bartender and booker at Rubbles, 112 W. Michigan St. “On the weekend, we have about two or three a night and we have some regulars.”
O’Kelly’s waitress Shannon Lewis said she is always confused when she sees cougars with younger men.

“When I first saw them come in, I was like, ‘Is that his mom or girlfriend?’” said Shannon Lewis, a waitress at O’Kelly’s, 2000 S. Mission St.

While Brimmer said more women go to meet younger men at Rubbles, Lewis said the situation is a little different at O’Kelly’s.

“We have a small amount that come in,” Lewis said. “They usually come in together… already with a young man.”

In recent years, the term “cougar” has increased in prominence in popular culture, defined as a woman usually older than 35 who goes after men at least 10 years younger.

Even though the women are older, their behavior is relatively normal.

“They don’t act too different from a regular college girl,” said Chad Miller, a bartender at The Cabin, 930 W. Broomfield. “They usually act really cool.”

Younger after the older

At Rubbles and the Cabin, the women do not have to chase after the younger men.

“The men usually come after them,” Brimmer said. “It seems to kind of be the ‘in’ thing, I hear that a lot of guys like the older women, I don’t see it, but I know of a few instances, it seems to be one of the hip trends.”

Brimmer said he was not sure why some of the older women go after the younger men, but one reason could be to feel young again.

“There’s a lot of things we try to do to stay young, it could be an underlying theme,” Brimmer said.

Brimmer also said he may have another theory about why exactly cougars are around.

“I think it’s like the female equivalent of a mid-life crisis, they might find themselves single and think, ‘Why not go after the younger guys?,” he said.

Whether it is the women may want to feel younger so they chase after younger men, or they do it for other reasons, sometimes it could just be that they happen to like the younger men.

“You can’t help who you like,” Lewis said.