Eclectic collective enlivens crowd

Behind some vintage Groucho Marx shades, Billy Sugarfix took the stage as host to kick off WXYC's 10th anniversary show Saturday night at the Local 506.

The University's student-run radio station organized the talents of local acts eNtet, The Moaners, Spectac and Jett Rink to commemorate its 10 years of Internet radio broadcasting.

While Sugarfix's disguise motif was mildly amusing at first, it soon became tired as he took on personas ranging from Santa Claus to one of his surviving relatives from the Hatfield-McCoy rivalry.

But his amateur-hour attempts at comedy were few, and the music soon took center stage.

eNtet was the first band of the evening, and with the appearance of a saxophone and stirring sounds of melodious runs, hopes were high.

But for those looking for classic jazz, things soon went downhill.

The band quickly dove headfirst into clunky free jazz. Now, good free jazz still has significant drawbacks because of the genre, but this music would numb Ornette Coleman - kind of like elevator music in slow motion.

In the middle of these barrages of incessant noise, minor players received solos, perhaps as a payoff to guarantee future membership in the band.

To be fair, if someone really listened for a message beneath the obtrusive exterior, he could find one. But you could do the same thing looking at television static for 20 minutes or listening to the rhythm of a washing machine's dry cycles.

The crowd and the mood picked up when the second band, The Moaners, took the stage. With only two female members, one could feel the approach of overly feminized teen-angst punk rock.

Once they started playing, though, all preconceptions were set aside. The dance-inducing drum cadence nicely complemented the guitarist's wailing riffs.

When the group combined those sounds with a moaning harmonica, it managed to create dreamy rock with a crisp, bluesy edge.

And in a particularly impressive move, drummer Laura King donned an axe and proceeded to play both her instruments at the same time.

Spectac, the night's third act, took up the mic and dealt lyrical flows that spelled out all his loves and unseemly woes. With a trendy sound bite from "Kill Bill: Vol. 2," the performance was off and rolling.

Sporting solid production from DJ Bumrush and mad beats compliments of Durham's own 9th Wonder, Spectac tore the house down with a wide-ranging freestyle. While perhaps relying too much on hooks and brief samples, Spectac still managed to resemble a young Ghostface and was the best act of the lineup.

Jett Rink was the final band of the night and, after the high of Spectac, was somewhat of a letdown. The band feels like it wants to be punk, and its supporting members are good enough, but the lead vocals feel out of place with the rest of the band's tone.

Overly dramatic and showy, front man Viva's stage presence would work with another band - but not this one.

Overall, WXYC put on a mixed show. ENtet and Jett Rink gave commendable efforts but fell short of the mark. But The Moaners, and especially Spectac, managed to save the show and the crowd.

Contact the A&E Editor at artsdesk@unc.edu.