By Adam Cook
STAFF WRITER
As Teratoma took the stage, the crowd took the floor nodding their heads to the opening band. At the end of the set, Sheridan paused to dedicate the set to Cody Laplante, a close friend of the band who had passed away earlier in the day.
This set the stage for a lot of talent in the Wildcat Den on the night of Thursday, April 9 as four bands came to perform. The bands, Cymbals Eat Guitars, Downtown Boys, Notches and Teratoma all put on a high-energy and emotional set.
As the musicians unpacked their amplifiers and instruments, the room the Wildcat Den seemed to shrink, giving the feel of a much more intimate show.
The first-act, Teratoma, a four-man band from Newmarket, played its final song, filling the room with emotion after delivering the news of close friend Laplante’s death, giving the crowd a good buzz.
“We’ve played for seven months and only have had three or four shows,” Connor Sheridan, Teratoma’s bassist said.
“Instead of practicing, we skinny dip in the swamp,” Sheridan added, providing some comic relief to the highly emotional room.
Notches, a band composed of New Hampshire seacoast locals, took the stage next. The crowd had become larger as more people filled the room. Notches had a fast, more punk-like progression, and jumped around a lot giving off a very energetic stage presence. Notches also gave a shout-out to Laplante during the set.
As the show took a break, the crowd also dispersed, waiting for the next set to begin.
“I came out to see all of the bands because I wanted to see how the scene was,” said Lucas Perry, a musician, University of New Hampshire graduate and Lee, New Hampshire native.
Next up was the band Downtown Boys from Providence, Rhode Island who played their first ever New Hampshire show. Downtown Boys, composed of a female vocalist, two saxophonists, a bassist, a guitarist and a drummer took the stage with more political-themed songs.
This rebellious type of music really got the crowd into the mood. Every member had a chance to come out into the crowd and play, even the drummer. With the upbeat and fast-paced music, the crowd began pushing and shoving along with the high energy that the Downtown Boys created as they set the stage for the headliner.
Cymbals Eat Guitars was the final band to play. The band came from Staten Island, New York. The energy produced by the three previous bands carried over into Cymbals Eat Guitars’ set as they performed the most energized show, and the crowd definitely reciprocated that.
MUSO will hold its next show in the Wildcat Den on April 24 featuring Ava Luna performing her newest album “Infinite House.”