_CORRECTION: A previous version of this article misidentified the name of Jason McEntire, who the band worked with to produce their album. The earlier version also misidentified the name of the band Greek Fire, as well as the name of the song featuring Lauren Kohl, “Never Be Alone.” MOVE Magazine regrets the error._
Students gathered on Carnahan Quad on Saturday night to listen to the homecoming of two local Missouri bands: main act Never Shout Never and Tidal Volume. Tidal Volume opened up for Never Shout Never, energizing the crowd with moving, flashing lights and an explosive sound.
Tidal Volume is composed of Zach Sullentrup as lead singer and main songwriter, Matt Sullentrup on drums, Andrew Scherping on bass, William Minard on keyboard and Chris Jansson on guitar. The band debuted their new EP “MODERN ANXIETY,” which was released on Aug. 5 under the production of Sawhorse Studios in St. Louis.
“We got the chance to work [with] Jason McEntire, who’s worked on a lot of St. Louis bands we really respect, like Ludo, and Story of the Year, Greek Fire, and he’s also done some stuff with X Ambassadors and a couple of other big names,” Zach said. “We wanted to work with someone locally and we also wanted to make something that was really, really massive in the way it sounds like the music that we love to listen to so we were really happy to make that vision come true.”
Mizzou is or has been a home for four out of the five of the band members of Tidal Volume. Zach graduated in May.
“We’re excited to play for a lot of our peers,” Zach said before the show. “We’re gonna have a lot of friends in the crowd, we’re gonna have a lot of people that we’ve probably seen walking to class, and a lot of impressionable new students as well … It’s cool to think that we’ll be a part of one of these first experiences that a lot of students will have at Mizzou in terms of experiencing live music and what Columbia has to offer in terms of music.”
The band closed their set with “Don’t Go,” a more subdued song than their previous played hit “Never Be Alone,” featuring vocalist and junior Lauren Kohl. Though more mellow, Tidal Volume continued to give “Don’t Go” an explosive sound with the chorus, which Zach harmonized with Jansson. The song choice was an appropriate ending to the set as Zach said, “we don’t want to go!” prior to their closing number.
Tidal Volume will be further debuting “MODERN ANXIETY” on Aug. 26 at Rose Music Hall.
As the lights dimmed and Billboard’s top 50 blared, the headlining band, Never Shout Never, set up. While the band is made up of lead singer and guitarist Christofer Drew, bass guitarist Taylor MacFee, and guitarist Hayden Kaiser, only Drew and Kaiser were in attendance. Drew changed between playing a ukulele and a guitar, and Kaiser carried a steady beat on drums.
Drew addressed the lack of members on stage, adding that tonight “is gonna be a chill set.”
A chill set it was, as Drew admitted there was no set list and that he and Kaiser were “making this up as we go.”
A beanie seemed to be the uniform of the band members, with Drew wearing a tie-dye t-shirt and Kaiser wearing black and white stripes. The duo played in front of the backdrop of their 2015 album, “Black Cat.”
Though seemingly unprepared for the evening, Drew and Kaiser played each song to perfection. The only reminder of their lack of planning was Drew asking the crowd which songs they wanted to hear. This excited old fans who were just waiting to hear their favorite songs, and Drew joked that he was not sure if he remembered how to play a requested song.
Drew’s sweet voice and the addition of his ukulele in some songs made for a relaxing, yet spirited night on the quad. Drew also involved fans by calling up a student, who also happened to be wearing a beanie, to work the shaker during a fan-favorite song called “cheatercheaterbestfriendeater” from their 2010 EP, “EP 01.”
To conclude the night, Drew addressed the crowd, “You’re young, don’t waste the best four years of your life.”
_Edited by Katie Rosso | krosso@themaneater.com_
