Saturday night opened up to a multitude of Union Programming and Activities Committee clubs showcasing future prospects of the year. The entire night focused on a few performances by artists hosted by UPAC Comedy, UPAC Concerts, and UPAC Mother’s, as well as movie trivia presented by UPAC Cinema and—of course—the effects provided by UPAC Lights and UPAC Sound.
To begin the showcase, UPAC Comedy opened up the show with standup comedian Jesse Joyce, who had the audience members laughing in their seats. Joyce began with drinking stories, and in between performances, he took to the stage and continued with a number of other hilarious jokes, which included digs on his Irish heritage.
Following Joyce was the band Revision, hosted by UPAC Concerts. Revision is a band from Ithaca College consisting of Nick Bullock on guitar, Devon Reehl on drums, and Jon Petronzio on keyboard. The first half of the show had the band performing rock pieces, and then ended with a mix of jazz and rock for its second-to-last song. Revision’s last song for the first half was the band’s rendition of Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition.”
The next group to perform was Stephane Wrembel and his band, presented by UPAC Mother’s. The band—which took root in France—has been playing across the United States for a few years now and mixes bluegrass and country with its own original style. Wrembel’s performance was a bit too long for my taste, especially when one of his four songs lasted a good 15-20 minutes. The last song was a point of interest, though, when one of Wrembel’s guitar strings broke mid-song he kept playing. It was only after a while that his drummer and bassist covered for him while he picked up another guitar to continue playing. Other than that, after two hours of comedy, rock, and folk music, an intermission was finally called.
The second half of the showcase started with movie trivia hosted by UPAC Cinema. Of course, Revision and Joyce also came back as the closing events.
In the past, UPAC Cinema has featured movies like Pan’s Labyrinth and Shrek the Third; for this term, the club has scheduled 300, Grindhouse, and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix later on in the semester.
UPAC Comedy has previously presented comedians Rob Paravonian, Lee Camp, Brad Lowery, Billy Burr, and The Evasons. If Jesse Joyce was only a preview of what the club has got to offer, then it seems that the future comedians will be just as hilarious or even more so.
Along with the Stephane Wrembel trio, UPAC Mother’s has already produced a lineup of the coming acts for the semester. These acts include Gideon Freudmann, Atwater and Donelly, The Ashdown Brothers, Bill Staines, and Nightingale.
As for UPAC Concerts, it was already selling tickets for the upcoming Gym Class Heroes concert in Schenectady later this month.
With the performances and the additional information placed around the McNeil Room about the different UPACs, it seems like a promising year.
