Millennium Music Conference Hosts Local Pop-Punk Band
Feb. 23, 2019, welcomed pop-punk and Indie pop-punk artists and bands to the stage at River City Blues in Harrisburg, PA during the Millennium Music Conference. These artists varied in fashion, personalities, and music styles.
The first performer of the night, Ed Allison, was a solo singer. He played guitar while music played in the background, filling in for the rest of the instruments. Allison did a few covers, including “Never Gonna Give You Up” and “Stay with Me”. Allison’s songs were both relatable and catchy. For being the only guy on stage, Allison put on a fantastic show.
Some Day Perfect, another solo act, took the stage next. Besides being really awkward on stage, air drumming and air guitaring, and trying to get people to “mosh,” the performer had his heart in the right place. All his songs are about getting through something tough in your life and how to overcome them. He did an impressive drum solo at the end that tied his performance up nicely.
Bad Mary, a female-fronted, pop-punk group from Long Island, NY put on a show filled with so much energy I was pretty sure Amanda, the lead singer, was going to jump a hole in the floor. A few fun facts about this group, the lead singer’s husband plays the bass, one of her professors from college plays the guitar, and her dad plays the drums in the band. Bad Mary has no “slow” songs in their collection of available music, making them a very up-beat group of performers. They broke a record by performing and singing one of their songs in 1 minute and 28 seconds instead of the regular 1 minute and 48 seconds.
Twindows is a group from Harrisburg. Rather loud, I could not really hear what the lead singer was saying all that well. Her voice was quite unique, though. They put on a great performance
for the most part until the lead singer kicked a microphone stand off the stage that did not belong to her.
The main event for the night was a band from Scotland called Single By Sunday. These guys matched their outfits with their hair color. The guy in the purple suit had purple hair. The guy in the blue suit had blue hair. And the pattern continued with the two other guys with the yellow and red suits. They were very energetic, joining the crowd during their performance. They stood on the tables and played their guitars. They jumped around the stage having a good time. They even managed to convince some older people to go dance in front of the stage.
Among these performers was a local band from Shippensburg named Nothing Planned. Comprised of Tristan Sieben, lead vocalist, Brandon Morgan, drummer, Spencer Godlewski, guitarist, and Lane Alleman, bassist, this band got its name by having “nothing planned.” The group started playing at house parties in 2018 and are making their way one step at a time to bigger venues. The band before their performance was full of jokes and laughter. The group was very supportive of the other acts during their performances as well.
Nothing Planned’s set was impressive for a small-town, pop-punk band. Each instrument played off the others well, giving each song and lyric a great rhythm. Sieben had a great stage presence, moving around the stage while he sang. Alleman announced each song and moved around the stage with enthusiasm as he played the bass. Godlewski was mostly stationary during the performance, focusing on playing, but his skill on the guitar made up for his lack of stage presence. Morgan played the drums with plenty of energy to spare, switching his regular drum sticks with light-up drum sticks and then back to regular drum sticks throughout the performance. He also had his own drum solo.
The band played a few original songs like “Arizona” and “Hold On”. Each song was just as catchy and energetic as the last. A cover of Jimmy Eat World’s song “The Middle” led to both Alleman and Godlewski leaving the stage to dance around the venue with the people dancing in the crowd. Even after forgetting the second verse of “The Middle,” the group finished out the song without incident. Alleman joked, “The second verse was trash, anyway.”
The guys in Nothing Planned are a group of funny, laid-back individuals that enjoy performing. Their stage performance is fun and enjoyable. Check-out Nothing Planned on Facebook and Instagram at @nothingplannedofficial to keep up-to-date with what they are up to. Check them out on SoundCloud as well at Nothing Planned Official.