Tuesday Night Live: Jared Mahone Performs Soul Music

Photo by Nicole Williams

This week’s Tuesday Night Live featured singer-songwriter Jared Mahone and his brother Matt who are originally Columbus, Ohio natives. Guests were offered free pizza but no beverages, to the dismay of some.

Opening the show was College Programming Board Music Co-Chair Alex Hoteck who performed with the aid of a keytar and keyboard. Hoteck entertained the audience with music from his band, Dolphin Uppercut Avenger’s latest EP. He also did a cover of “Feel Good Inc.” by Gorillaz and Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven.” Hoteck’s version of each of these songs was flavored with beatboxing and keytar, an original take on very well-known music and in Led Zeppelin’s case, legendary.

Mahone is usually accompanied by a band but sufficed with his brother playing a drum and providing backup vocals. They described their work as soul music and as such encouraged the audience to snap, clap or tap their foot to show they approved of what was being played.

“The coolest thing about it is getting to write about what we want to write and saying what we want to say and playing from the heart,” Mahone stated onstage when talking about his musical motivations.

He was playful with the group, at one point he said he wrote the lyrics to Britney Spears’ song “Hit Me Baby One More Time” and executed a brief cover of the song. He also wanted to reveal some stage tricks, primarily live looping which is when a musician records something onstage and that recording continually plays, serving as a back track.

The pair stressed the importance of writing personal, sentimental songs including pieces about their grandfather, the long-lasting marriage of Jared's wife’s parents and about trying to become a better version of yourself.

The set was well over an hour which provided ample entertainment on a Tuesday night. Justin finished the show with an unasked for encore in which he beatboxed and gave a short lesson on how to do it successfully. The way he blended the beat and the lyrics of a song concurrently was received by bountiful cheering. While this program did not see a swarm of onlookers, it is the first in a string of shows to experience a lull. In past weeks, TNL has garnered more attention this semester than ever before. 

brocha@ramapo.edu