A&E

It’s Time To Quest Once More

May 2, 2017 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Fatu Castillo

Staff Writer

Have you ever stopped and wondered lately, “Man, I sure wish I could enjoy a game of Dungeon and Dragons right now.”

No? Well neither did I! In fact, I kept my thoughts as far away as humanly possible.

The closest I ever got to that game was back in my middle school days when I quested, with all my might, to defeat the Enderdragon in Minecraft. Good times, getting chased by Spiders and killed by Creepers.

I never killed the Enderdragon, surprise, but the concept remains the same. Dungeons and Dragons is just too nerdy for me to pursue, that stays in my middle school years. How could I ever look my mother in the eyes if I spent the night before in a basement, with plenty of snacks and lots of friends, questing as a Rogue to save the kingdom?

Thinking about it now, quite easily.

But now is a chance at redemption, now I found a way to immerse myself in Dungeons and Dragons without feeling nonexistent shame.

I’m going to be honest here and admit that it took me awhile to get into The Adventure Zone. I had seen it all over Tumblr, watched as every other Thursday it would flood the tags as a new episode wreaked havoc. I stupidly looked as spoiler after spoiler came my way.

A word of advice, if you ever think “This spoiler won’t ruin anything for me, I don’t watch the show.” Slap yourself in the face, those are evil thoughts that will haunt you for life.

But back to The Adventure Zone, because it definitely is worth reviewing.

It’s produced by the McElroy Brothers, Griffin, Travis, and Justin, and their father, Clinton. Griffin plays as God, or the Dungeon Master, and the other three have to figure out how to get over the plot devices he throws their way.

I expected it to be predictable the first episode, it was only supposed to be filler episode in between their normal podcast.

They journey to a distant land, confront an evil tyrant, maybe kill a dragon, and save a princess.

Nope.

Instead I got to bruise my ribs laughing from listening to Travis argue on whether or not he could name his character Magnus Burnsides, Justin stealing gold and shoes off of anyone and everyone, and Clinton casting Zone of Truth in the most inappropriate situations.

All the while, Griffin had to voice about a dozen different characters and constantly forgot which was which, leading to hilarious situations.

It isn’t just a laugh-fest, by the way, there’s an actual plot happening that is really starting to heat up. So it’s good for laughs and gasps, like when Justin casts a spell that topples the entire sequence that Griffin had laid out.

If you do decide to listen to The Adventure Zone, it won’t be what you expect, that’s for sure.

Music Review: Sign of the Times

April 22, 2017 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Lauren Nicolella

Staff Writer

Screenshot 2017-04-22 at 11.37.59 AM — The single art for Sign of the Times.

Harry Styles released his first solo song on April 7th titled Sign of the Times. It was played for the first time on BBC Radio 1, with the host Nick Grimshaw. There was a lot secrecy surrounding the song, because of the fear that it would have been leaked before the initial release date. A lot of excitement was building up for the day to finally come, because the fans weren’t exactly sure of what he would be dropping.

In case you have been living under a rock, know that Styles is a part of the famous boyband One Direction. Like the other membe rs, he decided to release a song during their hiatus. But don’t worry, fans. Just because they chose to release their own music doesn’t mean that they are broken up. It is a part of them having their granted break from touring and producing music as a whole, nonstop, for multiple years. This is allowing all of the members to go into their own personal tastes of music instead of the genre pop that One Direction is focused on, and have more control of what they want to do as well.

Now is the part of the review where I have to identify myself as a One Direction fan, and let you readers know that there has been a very high bar of expectation set in my mind for this song. I’m happy to report that Harry definitely cleared that bar. I have had the song on repeat ever since the first time I listened to it. I couldn’t stop talking about it to others.. It even affected my routine of walking home after getting off of the bus, taking my slowest stride to make the song last until I finally reached my house.

Screenshot 2017-04-22 at 11.38.11 AM — Harry Styles with Nick Grimshaw on the day of the release.

The song is almost six minutes long (which is great, more to listen to!), having an older British-rock sound. It kind of reminds me of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody”, only because of the way that it starts out: slow with a piano and ending with an intense and colorful chorus. You can hear the obvious influences and direction he was trying to take.

Harry’s voice has matured a lot over the years, and you can hear it through every One Direction album. In his earlier recordings, he sounds like he is very young. Now that he has grown more as a singer, he showcases falsetto and a very strong voice, giving everyone a taste of what he’s really capable of.

I’ll be the first to admit that it is weird to hear him singing alone in a song, but this felt perfect. I do not think that there are fans who are upset, since that mainly happened when Zayn officially left the band. There has been lots of support, even though there are requests for the boys to come back. I’m glad that they all are exploring different genres and are allowing the fans to hear different a larger variety. His is more of the type of music that I listen to, so it was awesome to hear this. I needed some new music.

From what I’m seeing on social media, a music video for this song is coming out towards the end of the month, which is another thing to look forward to from Harry Styles.

From Fleimingo to Grey Palmer

March 28, 2017 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Aidan Williams

Staff Writer

“We started in like seventh grade, when this guy Jonathan Block wanted us to play in his christmas band. We played with him and it sucked, so we made our own band.”

This is the origin story of the band Grey Palmer, according to Sophomore Sofian Zapf, who is also Grey Palmer’s lead guitarist.

Composed mostly of students at Germantown Friends School, Grey Palmer’s music is reminiscent of the Red Hot Chili Peppers: Levi Andrews-Hoke, the primary lyricist and singer, as well as the rhythm guitarist, writes lines packed with words over punchy, upbeat ska-inspired riffs. The band is rounded out by Claudia Grossi on bass and Caleb Rudick on drums.

Formerly known as Fleimingo –“We hated the name because no one knew how to spell it,” explained Zapf– Grey Palmer has been described by Nat Hilton, a Junior and fellow musician, as “white kid reggae. A tween The Police.”

Having been together for about a year and a half, they have recorded three demos that have been released, all of which are on their bandcamp, www.greypalmer.bandcamp.com.

They’ve spent much of the past few months playing shows mostly in basements and small local venues all over Philadelphia, and putting themselves on the map. Sofian has gotten fairly good at booking shows, and it seems as if they’ve been playing non-stop, always bringing a crowd to each gig. However, they are currently in the process of writing and recording new music, and have taken a break from performing.

Most of their demos have a Spanish inspiration. Songs they have already recorded include “Conquistador,” which is full of references to conquests as well as religion, to “Descansada,” a song dedicated to rest. The songs are dense, packed with lyrics full of references to anything from religion — “Then again I’m a mennonite man on a family tree.”– to Casper the Friendly Ghost — “…And my best friend Casper, all friendly when he’s dead.”(Descansada), and everything in between.

“We’ve been trying to get ourselves together and record, but we lack motivation and time. Some day.” Sofian answered when I asked about the band’s goals. They’ve taken a bit of a hiatus in order to motivate themselves, but someday, maybe, they’ll decide it is time to do something. Or maybe they will continue to release demos until the end of time. We’ll all have to wait and see.

Movie Review: Get Out

March 21, 2017 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Mekhi Granby

Staff Writer

Last weekend, I went and saw “Get Out.”

My only expectations for the movie was for it to be super good as I was told it would be by a friend and my sister who had already seen the movie. I didn’t watch the trailer at all, so I had no prior knowledge about anything concerning the film. Usually, I could care less about movies and keeping up with them. But this movie was different. So much excitement was building up inside me in the days leading up to seeing it. I think the reason is because all the good comments I heard about the movie and the movie being completely new (non-sequel or remake).

I got to see it on a Friday at the Rave Cinemas in West Philadelphia. As soon as the movie started, I was so engaged, my mind is constantly racing and it’s easy for me to slip into a daydream or just not be paying attention but this wasn’t the case for Get Out. From the beginning of the movie my eyes were glued to the screen, I didn’t want to miss any small clues or important information.

For those who don’t know, without giving anything away: Get Out tells a story of an interracial relationship between Chris Washington (Daniel Kaluuya) and Rose Armitage (Allison Williams). They’re at the “meeting parents” stage in the relationship and Rose decides to invite Chris over her parents house to meet them. Chris and Rose arrive and things start getting crazy as Chris slowly realizes the truth about the Armitage family. From the beginning things seem a little strange to Chris but as the film unfolds, so does the truth.

In the beginning I was calm and relaxed but towards the middle my jaw slowly started to drop as things got intense. A factor that made the movie ten times more enjoyable for me was the audience. In those intense scenes, reactions were heard by multiple people across the theater and most of the stuff that was said was what I was thinking. Some of the reactions throughout the movie were “I KNEW IT!”, “OH MY GOD!,” “NO SHE DIDN’T!,” and “DON’T DO IT!”

The callouts weren’t directed towards the main character as they normally are in horror films. Instead they were directed towards the people affecting the main character and the actions concerning him. Nobody seemed irritated or annoyed by the callouts in the theater, the screening went perfectly in my opinion.

Towards the end of the movie my jaw was completely dropped, I was on the edge of my seat, I was so amazed by the scenes and I even made some callouts of my own as I was so shocked by what I was seeing.

After the movie I was completely satisfied by the film, it was everything that I was told it would be.

While leaving the theater I couldn’t stop smiling. I was ecstatic that I seen the movie and I was happy with how it ended. I came to the conclusions that I should give movies more of a chance instead of completely dismissing them without seeing a trailer or knowing anything about it.

There are countless amounts of messages and references to things going in today’s society found within the film. It makes ties to slavery while shining a light on a new concept. During an interview with HipHopDX, Peele said he wrote the script while Obama was president and that Get Out is very relevant in today’s society.

Get Out is a very eye-opening, edge of the seat type of movie. As I was watching, some of the events were predictable but it kept me guessing at the same time. It added a new perspective to my inventory and made me more cautious about several things.

Concert Review: Panic! At the Disco

March 7, 2017 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Lauren Nicolella

Staff Writer

Going to see one of your favorite bands is the best feeling in the world. Screaming out the lyrics and admiring the presence of your favorite person is like no other experience. On February 25th, the Wells Fargo Center had the honor of holding a Panic! At the Disco concert. Philadelphia was the second show on the North American leg of The Death of a Bachelor tour.

Lead singer Brendon Urie is a fantastically talented man, having a very large vocal range. Panic! At the Disco formed in 2004. Brendon is the only original member remaining since the others have left. They are described as a rock band from Las Vegas, but every album of theirs contains a slightly different sound while retaining the same theatrical feel.

Their most famous songs are “I Write Sins Not Tragedies”, “Nine in the Afternoon”, and recently, “Victorious”. The band’s newest album, Death of a Bachelor, was nominated for a Grammy this year under the best rock category. Unfortunately, they lost to Cage the Elephant.

On The Death of a Bachelor tour, there are two opening acts, Misterwives and Saint Motel. Both have an indie pop sound but stay unique to their own styles. They put on a spectacular show, it was honestly mind-blowing. Having them on before Panic! was something that I didn’t know I needed, and now I have been listening to those bands ever since.

To sum up this concert in two words, all I have to say is Brendon Urie. His talent is unbelievable. His vocal range is absolutely insane. From start to finish, everything was perfect and definitely one of the best concerts I’ve ever been to. The atmosphere was very comfortable, and seeing that there were fans who were of all different ages shows how much the band has influenced so many people within their career.

A performance that particularly stood out to me was Girls/Girls/Boys, because the stage lit up with rainbow colors and had members of LGBTQ+ community featured on the screens. Brendon opened up the song with a brief message against Trump, and showed people that they could feel safe in their environment and that their favorite musician was on their side. Fans on the floor had different colored paper hearts and shined their phone flashlights through them to contribute to the support of gay rights during the song.

Panic! At the Disco has been covering Bohemian Rhapsody for years now, and this summer it basically became “official” and a studio version was recorded for the Suicide Squad soundtrack. That already was one of my favorite songs of all time, and I had told my cousin that either way if they did or did not perform it, I would freak out either way. Luckily, they performed it and honestly I was having the time of my life and didn’t even mind that my vocal cords were getting severely damaged.

I’m really glad that no one cared about my terrible singing and dancing. It was pretty embarrassing of how crazy I was going along with the music, but it was hilarious to see the girls in front of me doing the same thing.