Performing at Mac’s Bar night was the perfect excuse for members of the rock band Dryvel to return to their alma mater.
“A State grad can understand that when you leave State you’re very depressed and you’d do anything to have an excuse to come back,” Dryvel drummer Matt Marriott said. “Out of desperation, we created a Homecoming show so that we’d have an excuse to come back and play.”
Returning for the fourth time since graduating, Dryvel put on an energetic performance to add to an eventful Homecoming week.
Bands Overdrive Orchestra, Vandalay and The Skylit Letter also performed, adding a unique variation in sounds at the Lansing venue.
Marriott said the band shaped its hard melodic sound from bands they grew up listening to, such as Rancid, Blink-182, Green Day and Underoath.
Made up of mostly alumni, Vandalay created a softer wide-ranging sound in the packed bar when it hit the stage.
Vandalay pianist and vocalist Drew Machak, said all of the qualities his band embodies makes it difficult to label it with one genre.
“There’s a little bit of groove in there, there’s some heaviness and some of the songs even have a little pop, then there’s the rock,” Machak said. “When the piano comes in, it totally changes all that. It’s kind of like a heavier Coldplay. It adds another dimension.”
Grand Rapids resident Ashley DeGroff said she drove about an hour to see eclectic rock band Vandalay.
DeGroff said she appreciated each band and loved the comradery the mix of bands created among audience members.
“Tonight was unique in a few ways because the bands brought out unique kinds of music, unique kinds of people and yet all of us are here (were) talking at the end of the show about the same thing — music,” DeGroff said.
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