Review & photos by Jake Masters
Arriving at this show a bit late, I missed most of Marino, the first band’s, set. A lot of the crowd seemed to like them though. Next up was the well known D.C. local band called Lennex. They had a very energetic set with a lot of crowd interaction. The singer played trumpet on a handful of songs and then shifted right back into singing seamlessly. Lennex played about twelve tracks and everyone was getting into it as they are a popular band in the area.
Next was Cypher, a three piece with a drummer, guitarist, and singer/bass player. Their sound was interesting, kind of a mix between Disturbed, Tool, and Korn, but not too many folks in the crowd seemed to be digging it too much. There was too much anticipation for To A Science I guess.
Finally, To A Science came on stage with camcorders pointed at the crowd. Natives of Baltimore, MD the four-piece rock band had gathered quite a following for this show in the college town of Towson, nearby Baltimore. After a brief introduction, they launched into their set. It was very energetic for about the first six songs, a mix of rock, emo, funk, and jazz. Then they brought things down just a little bit since the crowd was getting a little crazy. It was mostly the Towson frat guys freaking out, like frat guys do. To A Science played the first half of “Late June”, one of their more popular tracks, quietly and at half speed. The girls in attendance really seemed to like this and it was a good sing along for everyone with the chorus line-“Why stop now-I’m so close-I still love you-even in late June”. They then picked up to the original fast beat to finish up the song.
All of the musicians in this band including singer/guitarist David Nenner, guitarist Drew Decaro, bassist Boyitz, and drummer Mike Mullins are very talented in their own right. Combined on stage their overall talent and sound is amazing and they have good chemistry.
Later on in their set, To A Science brought in a friend to play congas and other percussion on a few tracks. The energy got even greater. Finally, at the end of the set, To A Science busted out a medley of hip-hop classics with another friend on-stage. Of these songs one feature was Snoop Dogg’s “Gin & Juice." They finished this off with a freestyle from both their friend and To A Science guitarist Drew, including some call-and-response crowd interaction, like “When I say___, you say____." It was definitely a change of mood.
This was a really fun concert and a good way for To A Science to kick off their band’s career in their local headquarters. They are really a band to watch.