Rider student burns up stage
By Casey Sky Noon
Junior Zack Needles played the role of a rock star for the first time when his band, If Camden Burns, performed at the Hamilton Street Café in South Bound Brook last Sunday, Oct. 16.
That evening, the three-room venue held an underground band marathon, hosting six other local groups from the tri-state area.
Get-lost-in-comfort couches were paired with supportive parents, girlfriends and youngartists in the merchandise and congregating front room.
Surrounded by psychedelic murals and tripped-out paintings, fans gathered almost eerily in clusters of three for set after set of original hardcore music.
Following a we’re-not-gonna-make-it scare on the infamously confusing roads of New Jersey, the Pennsylvania band members nervously kissed their girlfriends and systematically set up on stage.
“I didn’t even know what to think,” admitted guitarist James Pisaturl when commenting on how he felt before playing. “I was just so incredibly flustered.”
Walking to the front of the three-foot-high stage and taking a deep, calming breath, lead singer and guitarist Needles introduced If Camden Burns to its first live audience.
Then, as if reaching the jump-out-of-your-seat climax of a quiet, suspenseful horror film build-up, the band began with an angst-filled song called “Eve Black Finally Puts A Bullet Through Eve White.”
Backed by his younger brother, Craig Needles, on bass, Zack artistically screamed about “looking for a feel good way to kill yourself.” Meanwhile, his hands caressed and tapped his six strings with ease, speed and precision.
By the second song, anxious adrenaline subsided and drummer Justin Cunnane’s mechanical start relaxed into his full-blown power hitting style.
Pisaturl and Craig Needles alike concentrated on playing a mistake-free set, but eventually got lost in their music and caved into the desire to jump around and rocked out.
While their faces gave away their apprehension, they nevertheless mustered up enough courage to create an attention-holding stage presence.
During “Baseball, Shame, Cocaine,” the feeling caught on and a small circle of head-banging teens formed within the crowd.
The band’s heavy metal distortion and Pantera-esque sliding brings floods of old school memories to mind, but the emotional lyrics screamed in the hardcore style unique to this generation undoubtedly modernizes its tone.
Fast-paced and thoroughly energetic with guitar solos to match, these first-timers produced a warm and welcoming sound, at least to those who were already open to loud, in-your-face art.
Unfortunately, the back-up vocalist’s microphone did not pick up Craig’s extra-loud howls, and the cluster of string instruments on the left-hand side of the stage not only set the group off balance, but also created a dangerously close performing space. However, this serves as a testament to the importance of sound checking as well as to the first show being a learning experience.
“We can do it,” beamed Zack when asked how he felt about the night. “That’s what I learned.”
Despite skipping a section of ‘Ghost,’ knocking over a microphone stand here and there, and taking a couple of long breaks between songs, If Camden Burns played an impressive first show, making it over that initial stage fright milestone.
