It may not have been Saturday night, but the crowd was still as oiled as a diesel train when Splatter rolled in on Friday, Sept. 19.
With a few train songs for the crowd, students and family turned out to support the band in their second performance at Birdies on 18 Main St.
The performance featured covers of “Casey Jones” by The Grateful Dead, “Cinnamon Girl” by Neil Young and tributes to Chuck Mangione and Ozzy Osbourne, who have recently died. The tributes featured a medley of songs by Black Sabbath/Ozzy Osbourne, including “Crazy Train” and “Feels So Good” by Chuck Mangione.
“I think the tributes are really important to us,” said drummer and senior at KSC Emma Toscano. “Having to honor artists that inspire us and we’re sad to see them go.”
Splatter introduced its new original song, “Train Song” and an older original, called Casualty, that was introduced during their inaugural performance at Birdies in February.
“We just call it ‘Train Song’ because I think that’s kind of what stuck,” said guitarist and senior at KSC Julia Baer. “I never really came up with a name for it. It’s just ‘Train Song.’”
Hoping for a good turnout like their first show at Birdies, which is the highest-selling performance at the venue to date, as previously reported by The Equinox, Max Orio, bassist and senior at KSC, said he was feeling good for Friday’s performance.
“I’m feeling very prepared as opposed to other gigs,” added Orio.
Students reported feeling good about the performance as well.
Senior Brandon Valley came out in support of guitarist Owen Keyes, who Valley described as “one of my best friends – my better friends.”
“I’ve seen them [Splatter] before a couple of times, but not here [Birdies],” said Valley, adding it was his first time at the venue. “The vibes are cool, I like the setup.”
Will April, junior and music director of WKNH, said it was his first time seeing Splatter perform.
“They’re honestly really great,” said April, adding that he had class with a band member and that is how he learned about them.
Friday’s concert was the first time April had been to Birdies as well.
“It’s pretty good,” said April. “It’s a little bit smaller, but I think it’s still a good area for concerts and stuff.”
The band members said their next performance will be at Pumpkin Fest in Keene on Saturday, Oct. 18, but they are looking to the future as well. The band is currently in the early stages of recording, said Baer, adding that “it’s getting there” when asked about how the process is going.
“We’re building up right now, so that when we are all finally out of school, we can hit the ground running,” said Orio.
Timothy Fitzpatrick can be contacted at
tfitzpatrick@kscequinox.com
