FARGO – Little Lizard, Vanity Plate, Parliament Lite and Concordia’s very own Ghouls held a concert at the Aquarium on Saturday, Nov. 4
The Aquarium, a small music venue in downtown Fargo, is described as “Fargo-Moorhead’s premiere live music venue” on their website. They are located in Dempsy’s Public House at 226 Broadway N.
Each of the four bands present at the concert brought a unquie experience for the audience.
Parliament Lite
Taking the stage first in the small bar above Dempsey’s Irish Pub was Parliament Lite, a solo project by Patrick Finnicum, who describes his music as “chillwave for burnout losers.”
Finnicum’s music is electronic and glitchy, yet not lacking life. There is a certain nostalgic feeling that he evokes, likely due to his music being reminiscent of “video game music,” a comment that was overheard during the show.
He describes his music as being nostalgic, but trying to stay present. Finnicum makes and performs music on a Korg Electribe 2.
“It’s a groove box, which means that it’s got a sequencer which tells your instruments what notes to play and when, and it’s got a drum machine and none of them are that good,” Finnicum said.
Some artists that inspire him are The Postal Service and Aphex Twin.
Ghouls
Following Parliament Lite was Ghouls, a band made up of some current Concordia students, making their official Fargo debut at The Aquarium.
“It was so fun. First of all, getting to play in an actual concert venue is the coolest thing in the world for us since we don’t get to do that,” Ghouls lead vocalist, Mya Lysne said.
“It felt really comfortable, and I think that helped because we’re playing here in Fargo, it felt like home. Our home turf,” the band’s bassist, Mitchell said.
The group channeled their Beatles influence with songs like Madison, paired with their rocking Soul and R&B energy with one of their signature covers mashups. Their whole set was chock-full of emotional guitar solos, warm acoustic strums, and a magnetic energy that pulled people’s eyes to the stage. The audience responded in kind, making the Ghouls Fargo debut a very warm welcome.
Little Lizard
Next onstage was the “funk punk” duo from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Lizz and Shea Drenkow of Little Lizard. Immediately, most listeners will identify that this music is unlike anything they have ever heard. Their music is dissonant and simply strange.
However, the odd pairing of genres seems to work. The Drenkows describe their music as “dancy” and “in your face.” They are a married couple, who met in college in a brass ensemble. They said they are influenced and inspired by artists like Thundercat, Miles Davis, King Tubby and Talking Heads. The name of the duo comes from a name that Lizz was called as a first grader, “lizard breath,” which her family later adopted (and later she did as well).
Vanity Plate
Finishing up the night was Vanity Plate, a fun and energy-filled indie power pop project led by Jazmine and Zach Schultz, based out of North Dakota.
Schultz describes their sound as power pop, and said that others describe them as “kind of like thin lizzy.” Their music seems to be laced with punk influences, further adding to the energy of the power pop sound as well as adding some angst.
This is one of many projects she has been a part of with her husband, Zach. Vanity Plate specifically started around nine years ago. Jazmine’s favorite instrument is the bass guitar that was gifted to her by her husband.
