Tag: Ryan Cox ’18
Summer Concerts Promise a Treat for Every Taste
by thecowl.ae on April 27, 2017
Arts & Entertainment
By Ryan Cox `18
A&E Staff
For music junkies, summertime is synonymous with concert season; it seems like artists of all genres come out in full force between May and August to treat their fans and share their music. Southern New England boasts many concert venues, and so the area becomes a hotbed for concerts. Here is a look at some of the biggest names coming to the region this summer. If you aren’t from New England, don’t worry—four of the five featured artists are making stops across the country.
The Chainsmokers (TD Garden, June 2; Dunkin’ Donuts Center, June 7):
The headliner of the 2016 PC Spring Concert is currently on a world tour. “Closer,” which became a smash hit this past summer, rocketed The Chainsmokers to stardom. They had difficulty on the charts until “Closer” became a worldwide number one. The duo also recently released their first full-length album, titled Memories…Do Not Open, which features the singles “Paris” and “Something Just Like This.”
Ed Sheeran (Mohegan Sun Arena, July 14-15):
Fresh off the release of Divide (stylized as ÷), and the hit lead-off single, “Shape of You,” Sheeran is currently on a world tour of the same name, making stops in Europe and South America before heading to the United States in June. The 26-year-old star is also playing two shows in Boston at TD Garden in September. While his diverse set of influences has made him an incredibly popular artist, Sheeran is considering taking some time off from performing, so catch him while you can.
Queen + Adam Lambert (Mohegan Sun Arena, July 23; TD Garden, July 25):
Adam Lambert is known for his theatrical performance style, and considers Freddie Mercury one of his influences. He makes a good fit for Queen, although standing in for the late rock vocalist is not an easy task. Although the active members of the original Queen are now in their sixties, the band still rocks, and Lambert provides some fresh energy to keep things going strong.
Coldplay (Gillette Stadium, Aug. 4):
Now in their 21st year as a touring band, Coldplay will return to Foxboro after spending most of the summer in Europe. The North American leg of the Head Full of Dreams Tour begins in New Jersey on Aug. 1, following the recent release of their five-track EP titled Kaleidoscope, which features “Something Just Like This,” a collaboration with The Chainsmokers.
Kenny Chesney (Gillette Stadium, Aug. 25-26):
When the country icon announced that he was taking the summer off from touring, he made an exception for the city he loves. It is clear when Chesney performs at Gillette Stadium how much he appreciates the fans in Foxboro; it was here that he named his fans “No Shoes Nation.” He will perform alongside Thomas Rhett, who is quickly becoming a star in his own right, and Old Dominion, a quickly rising act, so the bill represents a wide range of country music tastes.
Stars with Guitars Come Together for Charity
by The Cowl Editor on March 23, 2017
Arts & Entertainment
by Ryan Cox ’18
A&E Staff
Last Thursday night, the Dunkin’ Donuts Center offered a unique opportunity to country music fans in Southern New England. Sponsored by Cat Country and Dunkin’ Donuts, the venue hosted its second annual “Stars with Guitars” acoustic guitar pull, where all the artists are on stage together, taking turns playing songs and sharing stories about their musical careers.
The show was a benefit concert, and all proceeds went to Hasbro Children’s Hospital. This year’s show featured rising artists Ryan Follese, and Runaway June, as well as Love and Theft, LoCash, Jon Pardi, and Josh Turner, who all donated their time to perform.
Follese, the former frontman of the band Hot Chelle Rae, was eager to share some of his backstory. Follese’s parents were both country songwriters, writing Tim McGraw’s “Something Like That,” and Faith Hill’s “The Way You Love Me.” He performed his latest single, “Put a Label on It,” and the Hot Chelle Rae hit “Tonight Tonight,” among a few others. Follese seemed the most excited to perform at the event, saying, “This is really cool for us because it feels much like a Nashville writers’ night. I feel like I’m bringing the Bluebird up to you guys.”
Runaway June brought the most traditional country sound to the first half of the show. Their latest single, “Lipstick,” capitalizes on their organic country twang, bringing a bit of traditional female harmony to an industry marked heavily by country-pop. Jennifer Wayne, granddaughter of actor John Wayne, spoke briefly about growing up around her grandfather.
Love and Theft featured their newest single, “Candyland,” and an unreleased song, “Love Wins,” that reminds men to be “better husbands, better fathers,” according to the band. The single has just been released online but will be featured on the band’s upcoming album.
Pardi brought a big personality to the night. Despite his California roots, he injects a throwback country sound into his music. He performed his first number one, “Up All Night,” which brings back the sound of late ’90s and early 2000s country. He was the only artist who brought an electric guitar onstage, a strange choice at first that worked surprisingly well with the acoustic guitar and was a fantastic way to best represent his style.
LoCash’s sound was the most contemporary of the six artists. The duo performed a couple of their hits, including “I Know Somebody” (their first number one), and their current single, “Ring on Every Finger.” They also performed the Tim McGraw song “Truck Yeah,” which they co-wrote in 2012.
Turner’s iconic country bass has remained unchanged for almost 20 years, staying strong in the face of the rapidly-diversifying country genre. His cool, mellow stage presence matched his warm, bass voice. From his presence on stage, it was clear that Turner had the most experience performing, but it would have been nice to see him open up a little more about his career during the night.
To see the artists laughing and talking genuinely with each other and the audience was a refreshing change, and a unique opportunity to see artists in the situation in which most of them got their start. For one night, the concert was about the music, rather than the show.
The Dunk was only open to a third of its capacity, creating an intimate experience for the audience to interact with the artists. “Stars with Guitars” is the most recent iteration of Cat Country’s benefit concerts, beginning in 2009 with the “Snowball” series, but this is shaping up to be their most successful version of the charity concert.
“Blackbox” Leaves Users Puzzled
by The Cowl Editor on March 16, 2017
Arts & Entertainment
By Ryan Cox `18
A&E Staff
You are presented with only a dark screen and a grid of colored boxes. Tapping on one of the boxes, or “lights” as the game calls them, brings up a sparsely-designed screen. The goal is to turn on the lights by performing an action hinted at by the graphics.
There is a catch, however: tapping the screen or the lights does not do anything to guide you toward the solution. Instead, you are forced to use the myriad of iPhone features to solve the puzzle. This deceptively simple puzzle game is “Blackbox,” called “devilishly clever” (Six Colors) and “utterly diabolical and utterly brilliant” (CNET) by critics, and boasts a 4.8-star review on the Apple App Store.
Upon first opening the app, the player is presented with a short tutorial and the first puzzle. Instantly, the player is given a challenge to overcome, and despite its simple design, it takes a while to figure out the trick. This tutorial sets the pace for the rest of the game. After this, the player is left to his own devices; there is no help option, no settings page, just the grid of challenges and the player’s own creativity.
The puzzles are designed, according to the App Store description, to be “on the cusp of maddening but always solvable.” The solutions are always right in front of you, since they involve the device’s various features, but the cryptic, minimalistic clues require some creativity to solve them, making the moment of finally solving one incredibly rewarding.
Trying to abandon the instinct of using the screen to solve the puzzles is difficult at first, and frustrating at times, but makes the game stand out from the rest of the mobile puzzle games on the market. If you get stuck, hints are available for purchase (you are given three for free, at the start of the game).
“Blackbox” has intrinsic replay value. Some puzzles require you to come back periodically to turn on all the lights, while others simply take some time for the player to think about the clues and hints. While this works well for some puzzles, others are downright tedious, requiring the player to open the app at precise times of the day, making some challenges unfortunately time-consuming. The game comes with 46 free puzzles, but there are also additional packs available for purchase for $1.99 each.
It would have been nice to have alternate methods of unlocking these, considering the app is free, but after playing through the free challenges, it was difficult to resist dropping the money on each additional pack to see what other iPhone features were used.
Overall, “Blackbox” is a unique, challenging, and clever puzzle game that stands out from the rest of its genre by forcing the player to think beyond the screen. As of now, the game is available for iOS devices only.
Let’s Rant: An Entertainer’s Place in Politics
by The Cowl Editor on March 2, 2017
Arts & Entertainment
By Ryan Cox `18
A&E Staff
We live in a world of constant political opinions. Media outlets are saturated with political rhetoric and analysis, and this often spills over into the various branches of the entertainment industry. While there is nothing wrong with musicians or actors having political opinions like the rest of the American people, an entertainer’s job is to entertain, not to push a political agenda.
People buy concert tickets or watch TV shows to lose themselves in the music or the story and forget about life for one song or one episode. Using the medium as a sort of soapbox to project one’s own political views or push a political agenda abuses that power. In an interview with The Boot, country singer Miranda Lambert echoed this, saying, “I don’t want to ever use my career or this thing that I’ve built as a platform to sway people to my direction…I don’t ever want to push my opinion on someone because I don’t want them pushing their opinion on me.”
This leads to last Sunday’s Academy Awards. In a recent article from Polygon titled “Why Jimmy Kimmel Needs to Make the Oscars Political,” author Julia Alexander urges Kimmel to turn his monologue into a political critique, writing, “Having more than 30 million people listening to you means hosts should do more than just entertain…In between the glamor, red carpet, and golden statues, there’s a 10-minute block for real discussion to happen, and Kimmel is wasting it by poking fun lightheartedly at celebrities.”
Audiences do not need to be force-fed another political opinion each time the opportunity presents itself. Especially given the frequency of such commentary in other outlets, a three-hour reprieve is a blessing, and it should stay that way. The public does not watch the Oscars to listen to Kimmel’s political thoughts, and it would be selfish to think that was the case. It places the spotlight on a single person as if the audience was there for them, rather than for a celebration of a year’s worth of achievements. The Academy Awards is about showcasing the best of Hollywood this year, not politics.
So what is the right time and place for entertainers to voice their opinions? An extreme example might be Ashton Kutcher, who last month spoke before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee against human sex trafficking. Kutcher is the founder and chairman of Thorn, an organization which fights “predatory behavior…and [protects] vulnerable children,” according to its Twitter page. Kutcher spoke as a representative of a social action organization, rather than as a celebrity, and did so without trying to draw attention from the tabloids. Social media is another viable option.
In short, there is a time and place for celebrities to speak out about their opinions and political issues. The stage, or the screen is not it, particularly when it changes the occasion from a lighthearted one to something more divisive.
Gaga Shines, Soars in Halftime Show
by The Cowl Editor on February 9, 2017
Arts & Entertainment
By Ryan Cox `18
A&E Staff
For many Patriots fans, until the fourth quarter, the only good thing about Super Bowl LI was the halftime show featuring Lady Gaga. For 12 minutes, the 30-year-old, Grammy award-winning pop icon rocked NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas, singing a medley of her greatest hits. The performance felt like a concert; Gaga’s set was mostly high-energy hits, but also featured a couple intimate moments with her fans in the audience.
Gaga opened her show with a patriotic medley of “God Bless America,” “This Land is your Land,” and the final lines of the Pledge of Allegiance, set atop NRG Stadium, with the Houston skyline in the background. Three hundred drones helped to set the backdrop by lighting up the night, mimicking a starry sky. From there, Gaga descended to the stage from her perch on the stadium roof and went into a medley of her hits, opening with a short piece of “Edge of Glory” and transitioning into “Poker Face.” The performance also included bits from “Just Dance,” “Bad Romance,” and “Born this Way.”
Throughout the set, Gaga presented her typical powerhouse vocals, instrumental talent, and the theatrical element that have all become staples of her style. One particular highlight was an intimate moment during her latest single, “Million Reasons,” where she gave a shoutout to her parents before hugging a fan in the front row. Gaga closed the performance with a mic drop before catching a football (arguably better than some of the players’ attempts that night) and diving out of the camera frame, an explosive end to an energetic show.
Many critics anticipated the pop superstar to incorporate some political stance into her performance, given Gaga’s philanthropic efforts and support of the LGBT community. The only part of the performance that was considered political was the opening patriotic medley, which could be twisted as a patriotic call for unity in the face of the polarizing division across the country. Besides that, nothing of Gaga’s performance appeared to be blatantly political, at least not as much as some were expecting.
It is clear that, in the face of political division, Gaga wanted to capitalize on music’s power to unite the masses. In a press conference last Thursday, she noted that she wanted the performance to reflect the statements that have always grounded her image. “I believe in a passion for inclusion,” she said in that conference. “I believe in the spirit of equality, and that the spirit of this country is one of love and compassion and kindness. That kid that couldn’t get a set at the cool kids’ table, and that kid that was kicked out of the house because his mom and dad didn’t accept him for who he was? That kid is going to have the stage for thirteen minutes. And I’m excited to give it to them.” Evidenced by the rave reviews following the performance, Gaga achieved her desired outcome.
Adam Hanna: Gifted and on the Rise
by The Cowl Editor on February 2, 2017
Arts & Entertainment
by Ryan Cox `18
A&E Staff
Call him what you will—“the next big thing,” “Providence College’s newest campus celebrity,” or “rising star”—they all describe the growing career of Adam Hanna ’18, a Lakeville, Massachusettes, native whose music has gained an incredible amount of support on campus in just the last year. Coming off of his sold-out performance at Firehouse 13 last week, I had a chance to sit down with Hanna to talk about his views on his newfound campus fame. His passion and drive for performance was immediately clear.
This was Hanna’s second performance at Firehouse 13. “The first time, there were maybe about 100 kids there,” he said. “I didn’t know what would happen, and the owners took a chance on me.” This time around, filling the hall beyond capacity, things were markedly different. “It was incredible. Kids are used to going to Whiskey Republic and instead they came to this hole-in-the-wall place. I think having a lot of different opening acts helped to draw a bigger crowd too.”
Hanna got his start playing guitar in fourth grade, and immediately fell in love with it. “As soon as I picked that thing up I never put it down,” he recalls. “It’s like a kind of yoga. You get to relax and forget about things for awhile. If you feel something you write it down.” Throughout his career he constantly looked to his father, a former performing musician and songwriter, for guidance. “My dad taught me my first chords, and I still write songs with him,” Hanna said. “It’s the best father-son relationship you can have.”
Since then, Hanna has released a number of EPs with original songs, and a cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “Thunder Road,” which Providence College shared to its Facebook page, his first taste of campus fame.Hanna admits that the “Friar Family” is what keeps him coming back to Providence College, despite the urge to drop out and pursue music full time. “They support you in everything, whether it is sports, academics, or music,” Hanna said. “I thank them for coming to my shows, and then they thank me for playing. Sophomore and junior year, there were times I almost considered not coming back, but little things like that make me come back.”
Hanna says his biggest musical influence is Springsteen, although he cites Freddie Mercury as well. Springsteen’s influence is evident in Hanna’s original lyrics and music, but both musicians influence his performance. “They left everything they had on the stage. There aren’t too many artists that do that anymore. People who try and create the whole experience, that’s what I’m trying to do. If it doesn’t look like I took a shower on stage, I didn’t do it right.”
Looking down the road, Hanna plans to release another new song in the near future, but for now he is focusing on honing his performing skills. Currently, he mainly performs covers of songs ranging from Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a a Prayer” to Bruno Mars’ “Uptown Funk,” but Hanna is looking beyond that. “I want to get to the point where people come to sing along to my originals,” he said.
For Hanna, the success he’s begun to gain is pushing him forward, and he’s letting that momentum carry him. “You can’t rest,” he said. “The last two days have been a mental break, but now it’s on to the next one. There can’t be a rearview mirror.”
Mac Odom Brings the Funk to McPhail’s
by The Cowl Editor on January 26, 2017
Arts & Entertainment
by Ryan Cox `18
A&E Staff
The Mac Odom Band brought down the house last Saturday night in McPhail’s for four hours, performing a medley of funk, R&B, and soul for the Providence College student body.
The locally-based band featured two members of the PC community: Jeff DiIorio ’17 on guitar, and Pat Nigro ’15 on saxophone. The band was missing some of their usual members, especially in the horn section, so the night featured Nigro, Mac Odom on vocals, and a rhythm section.
Because of the men’s hockey game that night, there was a small crowd at the beginning, but it got livelier as it went on. Despite the small crowd, the band gave an energetic performance anyway, featuring songs by Stevie Wonder and James Brown.
It is immediately obvious that the band’s musicians have great chemistry. “Being a healthy member of a tight band has as much to do with personality as it does musicianship,” DiIorio said in an interview. “If the band isn’t together on that personal level of relationship then the whole overall sound can suffer.”
DiIorio met Odom in 2014 when Odom performed with the Providence College Funk Band, of which DiIorio is a member. He started playing regularly with the band in March. The band is made up of extremely high-caliber musicians and playing with them has been a rewarding experience for DiIorio. “Once you play with musicians that are better than you, your standards immediately get raised because you have to keep up in a way,” he said.
DiIorio’s guitar playing is, as always, incredible. He plays naturally, effortlessly, and it is obvious that he feels the music as he performs. Nigro’s powerhouse, almost brassy, sax is exactly the kind of sound that a funk band needs. Nigro’s playing sounds like it comes straight from a James Brown record.
The rest of the rhythm section—Dave Buda on bass, Paul Bouley on keyboard, and Vinny Pagano on drums—sound like a recording, showing their years of professional experience. Odom, the lead vocalist, has no limits to his ability. He has a huge vocal range and adapts to every style. His smooth, powerful tenor is soulful and floats along the melody, fitting the styles perfectly.
The high-energy performance made it hard not to tap your foot along with the band or get up and dance, and by the end of the night, nearly everybody was on their feet. For one song, Odom called up music education major Tiernan Chase ’18 to sing Etta James’ “At Last” with the band. A classically-trained vocalist with an interest also in jazz, Chase sang with confidence and power.
“It was great to sing with a professional band, and for it to be a spur of the moment performance. I think it was really special,” Chase said. “The only way to learn to sing jazz is by experience, and this was a great way for me to learn and try out a new style of singing that I didn’t know I could do.”
The Mac Odom Band plays regularly at the 133 Club in East Providence on Thursday nights (21+, no cover), and at other venues throughout Rhode Island. You can follow the band on Odom’s Facebook page.
Is this Nintendo’s Saving Grace?
by The Cowl Editor on January 19, 2017
Arts & Entertainment
by Ryan Cox `18
A&E Staff
The long-awaited successor of Nintendo’s Wii U, codenamed NX and later named Switch, was formally previewed to the press and public in a live-streamed conference held Jan. 13. The new console boasts an impressively versatile design with the ability to function as a traditional home console, a handheld device, or a hybrid of the two , using a touchscreen tablet-like device as a sort of miniature monitor, and a traditional controller.
According to Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime, the Nintendo Switch is neither a tablet gaming system nor a handheld successor to the 3DS; rather, “it’s a home console you can take with you and play anywhere and with anyone.” Throughout the presentation, Nintendo executives reiterated that the 3DS is not being eclipsed by the Switch, and games for the company’s still-popular handheld console will continue to be released.
In an attempt to reconnect with hardcore gamers, Nintendo attempted to push the competitive aspect of the system and the more engaging quality of the Switch’s games. The hybrid nature of the Switch means that more powerful games can transfer to a handheld setting and may be attractive to hardcore gamers. However, Fils-Aime said, “I think that the initial consumer for Switch will be more young adults with disposable incomes, given the price points and the large library. In the end, we want people of all ages engaging with Mario and Zelda, and the content that’s available across both platforms.”
Most recently, Nintendo has attempted to remain relevant and present in the gaming industry by breaking with its apparent resistance to popular trends in gaming by releasing its first few mobile games, including Pokémon GO and Super Mario Run, and by releasing the NES Classic to cater to the trend of rebooting nostalgic cultural icons. The Switch presents an additional opportunity for the company to get ahead of its competitors: Microsoft, Sony, and the growing list of mobile-gaming developers.
The Nintendo Switch will be sold for $299 at release. The 6.2-inch touch screen tablet (roughly the same size as the iPhone 7 Plus, for comparison) is the main unit for the system and uses cartridges rather than discs, alluding to the handheld aspect of the system. The “Joy-Con” controllers help convert the Switch into its different forms. The two halves slide into the tablet for handheld play, or can slide into an adapter that allows the two halves to work like a traditional controller.
According to Tech Crunch, the Nintendo Switch is “an everything-and-the-kitchen-sink console designed to learn from the mistakes of the Wii U while bringing together positive lessons from both it and its predecessors. The result is a system that can be played as both a sit-down living room console or a portable, if slightly unwieldy, system.” The Nintendo Switch will be released on March 3 nationwide, while pre-orders for the device are currently available.