Punk rock band Common Rider headlined at the Owl Cove in Mitten Hall on Wednesday, Oct. 30, a show sponsored in part by Temple’s student group Supporting Independent Music.
Common Rider’s members, lead by former Operation Ivy frontman Jesse Michaels, are the punk to their music’s rock.
Playing through constant shouts for various Op Ivy songs, Common Rider’s 35-minute set included “Small Pebble,” “Midnight Passengers” and the encore “Longshot,” off their 2002 release This Is Unity Music.
“You guys are much kinder then we deserve,” Michaels said about a half-dozen times during the fast-paced set.
Hopefully some day soon he (and others involved in the scene) will realize Common Rider do deserve some (read: a lot of) credit.
SIM was formed last October by Temple students and brothers Craig and Jeff Meyers, who were looking for a place to hold shows.
Before they could begin they needed to form a group with four core members, so they enlisted the help of friends and fellow students Dustin Bergman and Vince Sanginiti.
“We have more people now, more people are getting involved,” said Craig, an English student who will graduate in January, of the progress the group has made.
As vice president and co-founder Craig is committed to the group.
“I’ll still be involved with doing the shows [after graduation],” he said, adding that he just won’t be a part of the formalities.
The shows, mostly featuring punk and indie rock bands, seem to get a little more support from the University (SIM won an award for being the most active group on campus last year) then from Temple’s students.
“The program board has been supportive of us, they’re funding our last show,” Craig said. “We’d like more Temple students to come out. We have a group of about 20 that come to all the shows.”
To help change that, Temple students will often times get a discount on admission with their student ID.
SIM started booking the Owl Cove shows with Philadelphia-based Wonka Vision in February as a way of promoting to a wider audience.
The Owl Cove is one of fewer and fewer small venues to hold affordable all-ages shows in the Philadelphia area.
“We’ve been doing [shows] more frequently,” Craig said, though he’s unsure how many. “Especially since a lot of venues in Philly are closing.
“Bands have been awesome, some have already wanted to come back,” Craig said.
“If we can get more people coming, the better it will be for everybody.”
The final SIM show of the semester is Saturday, Nov. 23 in the Owl Cove with Engine Down, Ted Leo (solo), Breaking Pangaea and Mock Orange.
The show is $6 for Temple students with ID and $8 for non-students and starts at 6:30 p.m.
For more information check out astro.temple.edu/~dbergman or www.wonkavisiononline.com.
Heather Duffy can be reached at duff77@temple.edu.
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