By John Stran
Penguin Productions is holding a two-band rock show tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the Lemon Grove located on the second floor of the Knox Building downtown.
The first act is a Youngstown two-piece known as Picnic Day. The duo have been making noise since 2011, and according to band member Dave Tamulonis, they’re going full circle and playing where they had their first show.
Tamulonis said their first appearance as a band was at the original Lemon Grove, where O’Donold’s Pub is currently located, where they performed covers of The Beatles and The Doors songs.
Since their first show, Picnic Day has created some original music and released a few albums. The second half of the band, Chauncey Hay, said since their first album, “Grape,” the two have switched up their music to a heavier sound.
“We’re drawing more from garage rock and heavy blues,” Hay said. “We bought an $80 Craigslist drum set, and that spawned the current sound, which is much heavier.”
In an effort to try and come up with a name for their sound, Hay described it as art, rock, blues and jazz. A genre name covering an array of musical backgrounds for just two guys can be a challenge at times.
“Sometimes it’s hard to fill up a song with only two people playing, but we’ve always used loops and delay pedals to fill out the sound live,” Tamulonis said. “Now with drums, we rely on dynamics a little more.”
If their unique blends of sound doesn’t encourage people to go to tonight’s show, other elements of the show might. Tamulonis said if there should be a single reason to come to the show tonight, it should be to see the opening act and Kentucky natives, Morning Teleportation.
Morning Teleportation is self-described as psychedelic rock. Megan Jones, the concert series lead for Penguin Productions, said the two bands are a good mix because they show different spectrums of the same genre.
“Picnic Day and Morning Teleportation mesh well together because going into it you will be getting a rock concert, but experiencing different branches of rock,” Jones said.
This is the first event Penguin Productions has held at the Lemon Grove. After Jones attended a show there last semester, she knew she wanted to host a show and believes students will enjoy the space as much as she did.
Jones holds events like these in high regard, stressing the importance of culture along with the opportunity to take a step back from classes and unwind the mind.
“I am a firm believer in two things: arts and music are essential to life, and when you come to college, you should be involved in more than just classes,” Jones said. “This event fulfills both of those, so we encourage students to come out and enjoy a unique night downtown.”
Morning Teleportation will head back to Kentucky for their next two shows while Picnic Day’s next performance will be tomorrow at 9 p.m. at Cedars West End with local artist Tony Armeni.
