When MSU alternative band Audio Monarch hit the stage at the International Center Friday night, it was clear the group came out to have a good time.
“I thought it was awesome,” said lead singer and human resource management sophomore, Marc Kanitz, whose voice other members compared to Mike Posner. “When you see people you’ve never met respond to (the music) in a positive way, that’s what matters to me. That means you’re doing something right.”
The band, composed entirely of MSU sophomores and whose original members — Kanitz and guitarist Austin Spencer — started playing together in 2008 in Traverse City, Mich., opened for the alternative/rock/pop group The Well Reds on Friday as part of an event put on by MSU’s University Activities Board, or UAB.
Two years after Audio Monarch’s formation, kinesiology sophomore Hannah Pilarski met the band at a bus stop after an MSU Open Mic Night, and they added her to the crew as a keyboardist, guitarist and vocalist, along with drummer Matt Heimburger.
“They were playing, and I just came in and started singing with them,” Pilarski said. “We played on the bus all the way home.”
Kaitlyn West, the UAB spirit and traditions director, originally booked The Well Reds — who hail from Atlanta — after seeing them play at a National Association for Campus Activities conference.
The Well Reds are currently on a regional tour through the Midwest and performed at Western Michigan University on Feb. 1.
“Michigan is actually our favorite thus far on this tour,” lead singer Jeremy Ezell said. “Both (Western) and Michigan State have been amazing to us.”
West, a friend of Kanitz’s, later booked Audio Monarch as the opener after seeing a good response to them at UAB’s Showtyme @ MSU, Jan. 14.
“Audio Monarch was great,” interdisciplinary humanities sophomore Allyson Flak said. “As well as talented musicians, they seemed to be great people.”
Although the crowd Friday was a bit thin, drawing in about a quarter of the 200 students West expected to be there, Kanitz said it was a good learning experience for the band.
“I talked to (The Well Reds) after the show, and it opened my eyes that music is really tough,” Kanitz said. “You go through a lot of disappointment and stress, but they still love it. ”
Audio Monarch showed its fun side, too, playing songs ranging from Mike Posner’s cover of Beyonce’s “Halo” to The Backstreet Boys’ “I Want It That Way,” a crowd pleaser.
“Every college-age student grew up listening to that song,” education junior Becca Willison said. “It was unexpected, and I enjoyed it.”
Kanitz said audience numbers weren’t important to him Friday night, and he was glad to see new faces in the crowd.
“If there are five people there, we hope that all five people enjoy it,” he said.
Willison said the crowd that did attend the show was engaged in the music.
“I was glad I went,” Flak said. “More MSU students need to come out and go to shows like these.”
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