By Ryan Broderick
Both of the bands opening for “As Tall As Lions” on Tuesday, October 21, were smaller local acts at Hofstra Concerts’ “Coffee House.” The first was a genre-bending three-piece called “Lights Resolve.” Their music was as eclectic as their energy was high. Of his performance Tuesday night, Matt Reich, the lead singer, said that they were “experimenting with a bunch of new songs. A new vibe. We just got a new bass player, so, a lot of new stuff.”
“Lights Resolve’s” sound is best described as a high-energy blend of dance rock and jangley indie rock, thrown through chorus and delay pedals. Reich cites their musical inspiration as being heavily influenced by bands like “U2” and “Sigur Ros.”
Reich went on to break down how the band comes up with ideas and detailed the process as sometimes coming along as simply as “going with a riff and building on it.
About the band sticking with a 3-piece format, Reich said, “What makes us stay a three piece? Well, I’m really jealous watching ‘As Tall As Lions.’ They have like an 8-piece. I think like, wow, what I could do with an 8-piece… But there’s something special about 3 people just making music and putting something together that could… make that expansive sound… it just seems different than what everybody’s doing.”
The second band, “The Mercurial,” was even odder in terms of genre. Their sound is like a very confused explosion of sounds, not really sure where to go. To get a little insight on the band, vocalist, Chris Sanchez, described how the writing process goes. “We all have different influences. Like one of us is into rock, one of us is into Nintendo music, some of us are into, yeah know, opera.” The varied places they draw from to write are apparent.
Guitarist Dan Cohen said “I think we’re all united in the fact we all hate s*** that sounds like everything else out there.”
As to what they hoped for the show, they all agreed that, “Hofstra’s been awesome. The sound here… even on stage, the lights, everything is awesome.”
All three bands took time from their set, and mentioned over and over in interviews that Hofstra Concerts is one of the better venues they’ve had a chance to play. The sound set-up was so good that it was hard to decide if a band was good or bad. If anyone remembers the first few coffee house shows from last year, it’s clear that this time around they mean business. In fact, most of the shows that Hofstra Concerts has had their hands in this year are drawing bigger and better crowds than previous years. It’s safe to assume that professional sound, and accommodating and comfortable venues certainly help. Also, like tonight, there was an interesting, if not everyone’s cup of tear, mix of music. At the same time it was a nice combination of local and professional.
Hofstra Concerts is finally doing what a college promotion group should be doing, mixing newer local acts with a large newer band, to help spread the word.

Lights Resolve brought an eclectic and energetic live show to Hofstra USA on October 22,2008 in support of As Tall As Lions. (myspace.com/themercurial)

The Mercurial played at the University, promoting their debut album. (myspace.com/themercurial)