Eve 6 brings back the good old days

UConn's Winter Weekend 2009 not only provided students with dollar tubs of ice cream, but also a chance to see an old favorite, Eve 6. On Feb. 7, the band played to a large, enthusiastic audience in Jorgensen, playing a set of old and never-before-heard songs.

Before Eve 6 even took the stage, the crowd was surprised by Lights Resolve, a band hailing from New York City. Lights Resolve, which formed in 2006 with guitarist and lead vocals Matt Reich, bassist and vocals Luke Daniels, and drummer Neal Saini, possesses an indie rock style and sounds like a unique combination of Muse and U2, according to their profile on addictedtonoise.com.

The band opened to moderate applause, but as they played their set, they drew more and more people to the front of the audience, where the originally apprehensive crowd started to dance and sing along. The one detracting element from the performance was the lighting scheme, to which there seemed no rhyme or reason.

Fortunately, the music and the charisma of Light Resolve's musicians quickly made up for the bizarre lighting. Their appreciation for their audience made the band even more charming. At one point during their 45 minute stint, bassist Daniels shouted, "Wow, UConn knows how to f----g do it up!" Later, after the concert ended, Lights Resolve remained in the lobby to greet fans. Guitarist Reich reiterated Lights Resolve's gratitude to its lively crowd.

"It was awesome," he said. "I had no idea UConn was so cool."

The audience returned his recognition.

"His voice sounded really good," said Mary Fowler, a 2nd semester nursing major, of Reich, "I had no expectations because I had never heard of them - they blew me away."

Lights Resolve certainly did its job as the opening act - by the time Eve 6 came on, much of the audience was already up by the stage, ready to rock out. Thankfully, the lighting crew also had their job done in time for Eve 6, since the scheme was much more entertaining and professional for the main show.

The audience waited anxiously between sets, chanting "Eve 6! Eve 6!" as the technicians readied the stage. After a lengthy break, Eve 6 took the stage to rowdy applause, a fog machine, and skillful spotlights.

They opened with "Rescue," an older song from their 2000 album "Horrorscope." At first it was hard to distinguish what lead singer and bassist Max Collins was singing, but that is not unusual for a blaring concert filled with a rowdy audience. As Eve 6 played through their set, Collins provided backgrounds and anecdotes before the songs, labeling their hit graduation anthem "Here's to the Night," as "slightly and embarrassingly sentimental." And sentimental it was - it was at this point that much of the audience had their cell phones waving through the air, emanating an air of nostalgia through Jorgensen.

Sprinkled through the set were a few of Eve 6's brand new songs, like "Paradoxical", which Collins described as "confusing and catchy." The song had a Twilight Zone-esque beginning, but fulfilled Collin's promise as a catchy tune.

Besides Collins' funny exchanges with the audience, the other two members of the trio engaged the audience as well. Guitarist Jon Siebels continuously walked to the edge of the stage to rile up the audience, and drummer Tony Fagensen - well, he just drummed, but he did a good job holding up the rhythmic backbone of the performance.

Eve 6 ended the set with an oldie, "Inside Out," but the audience was not done with them. After a rousing chant of "One more song! One more song!" Eve 6 returned to the stage to play a two-song encore, ending with "At Least We're Dreaming." They left the stage for the night the way they entered - to raucous applause.

"I thought it was amazing," said Natalia Enciso, a 4th semester pre-teaching student. "It was a lot of fun, and very energetic."

Fowler added that she was impressed by both Lights Resolve's and Eve 6's appreciation for their fans, and enjoyed the show as well.