BEATS Bangs Everything at Oxfam

When freshmen Stephen Leichman and Jonathon Gais came up with the idea of BEATS, or Bangin' Everything at Tufts, they had no idea it would become so popular so quickly.

The band performed for the second time this year on Friday at a jam-packed Oxfam Midnight Caf?©, and their 45-minute routine left the audience in awe.

"I'm actually so happy and completely blown away at the same time at our increasing popularity," Leichman said. "I feel we're at a point now where about half the campus population knows us and half doesn't, which is awesome."

Gais and Leichman modeled BEATS around groups like Stomp and Blue Man Group, basically combining "entrancing beats and rhythms with the added coolness of a visual aid leaving you watching, jaw on the ground," Leichman said.

The group worked on five distinct beats during practice, all of which they played off of in some form during the show.

"The first beat we came up with was more of a multi-layered jungle beat," freshman Vijay Nathan said. "We then created a Latin-sounding beat. We also had a beat that emulated something that was a cover of a Safri Duo song, and then we had our hip-hop beat, and we finished with the jugs."

The band started its routine with impromptu free styling, creating intricate rhythms by banging drumsticks, spoons, and forks on tables, dining hall trays, bowls, trash cans, mugs and cups.

After dazzling the crowd with solos and fast-paced, electrifying beats, the performance became more interactive, with band members taking volunteers from the crowd to perform on stage. The drummers established a steady hip-hop beat, and the volunteers got up in front of the crowd and started rapping anything they could think of.

"[The rapping segment] was definitely one of the highlights of the show," freshman Anjuli Singh said. "It was extremely entertaining to see my friends get up on stage on the spot and freestyle rap, because it's not something I get to see everyday."

The group took its steady hip-hop beat from the previous segment and transitioned to their third segment, which Nathan called "more of an upbeat, funky version of the base hip-hop beat." Two performers held down the base hip hop beat while the other three drummers played rhythms that played off of each other like a conversation. Each of the three performed solo, and then gave the other two a chance to respond. Meanwhile, the two base players worked to get the crowd involved, screaming and clapping to the soloist's beats.

But it was the final segment of the show that really left the crowd jaw-dropped, begging for more.

"Every time we have practice, people bring in objects that they think would sound good," Nathan said. "One day, someone brought in two water jugs, and the 'water jug routine' was born."

The segment based around two, one gallon water jugs that Nathan started off holding, with his back to the audience. Sophomore Shaharris "Shon" Beh started a slow, and Leichman and classmate Jordan DeLiso joined in.

After about 25 seconds of slow drumming, Beh kicked Nathan in the leg, causing him to curl over with his back away from the audience. As he came up, he turned around, screamed, and held the jugs above his head. With the crowd yelling and clapping, Beh, DeLiso and Leichman dove into a fast beat mixed with what Nathan called "battling solos." Beh would solo for one or two measures, and then Leichman and DeLiso would each respond with a similar but unique solo of his own, as if arguing. On DeLiso's last beat, after about 40 measures of arguing, the room went black and the crowd erupted.

"I thought the jugs section was... unique," freshman Amanvir Chahal said. "The drummers made it fun to watch on top of playing an awesome beat.

"That pretty much summed up the whole performance. I was enthralled by the actual beats, but I was also extremely entertained just watching them perform."

If you have any questions about BEATS or are interested in auditioning for the group, e-mail Steve or Jonathon at tuftsbeats@yahoo.com.