Lead singer of Tantric, Hugo Ferreira performing the bands hit “Down and Out” Friday night. (Samuel Dixon / The Clarion Call)

This year’s CampusFest featured two headliners, whose respective styles of music are vastly different.

Friday night headliner Tantric is a hard rock band, originally based out of Louisville, Kentucky, whose singles “Breakdown” and “Down and Out” have earned them moderate radio success during the past decade.

Front man, Hugo Ferreira, whose subtly narcissistic persona and distinct voice serves as the main focal point of “Tantric’s” music.

The band was founded by Ferreira in 1999 under the original moniker of Carbon 14, which Ferreira decided was an “awful” band name.

After signing to Maverick Records and changing their name, Tantric recorded three full-length albums. Sadly though, the band behind Ferreira fell apart.

“The lineup kind of dissipated because everyone was having babies,” said Ferreira.

This forced him to go on and recruit members of what would form today’s Tantric who in Ferreira’s opinion is a “better band.”

With the new lineup came a new element to the band’s sound, as Ferreira enlisted long-time friend Marcus Ratzenboeck to play electric violin.

Ratzenboeck, who has a master’s degree in violin from Indiana University, and Ferreira were curious to see how an electric violin would sound through a guitar amplifier.

They were pleasantly surprised with how the violin sounded and quickly adapted it to the band, adding a refreshing element to their sound that sets them apart from other bands within their genre.

Tantric’s latest album “Mind Control” is the second record released by the band’s current form and features the band at it’s most aggressive state.
“We wanted to make just a straight, in-your-face rock record,” said Ferreira, in effort to contrast the bands past records that were more spacey and ambient.

Tantric’s performance at CampusFest was certainly tolerable.

The downfall of the set was that despite all the high quality equipment, the band’s sound was mixed terribly.

Those who attended and were interested in hearing more than just the drummer were sadly disappointed.

The drums were so overbearing that listeners could only notice the vocals and guitars during the softest moments of the bands set.

Even Tantric’s most interesting element, the violinist, had no chance of cutting through the mix and was basically unheard throughout the performance.

The set reached its low point when drummer Richie Monica ungracefully took center stage and proceeded to thrash and bombard his way through what the band affectionately called a “drum solo.”

The incident went along sloppily for about five minutes and quickly wore out it’s welcome, leaving audience members confused.

To Monica’s credit though, the drum solo’s unraveling could easily have been accredited to the concerts numerous  sound issues, but nevertheless the audience was left unamused and slightly bored as a result.

Vocalist Ferreira was solid at his job at front man, doing his best to woo over the crowd. Ferreira’s singing, when audible, was spot on, and the harmonies sung with bassist Erik Leonhardt were impressive.

After CampusFest, Tantric plans to keep on touring in support of the bands latest album.

Also they are currently in the writing stage of a new album with hopes of heading in a different direction for the band.

Their sound has varied from album to album, so their new material possibly could deserve some attention.

Guitarist Ryland Blackinton and bassist Alex Surez of Cobra Starship in the Tippin locker rooms before their show at CampsFest. (Lamont Sinclair / The Clarion Call)

Somewhere near the other side of the pop music spectrum is Cobra Starship, the second headliner of CampusFest’s double-header.
Lead vocalist Gabe Saporta, after disbanding from his pop-punk group Midtown in 2005, created Cobra Starship.
According to the bands official biography, their name stems from a hallucination Saporta allegedly endured after suffering a cobra bite to the neck while visiting the Southwest.
Apparently, while clutching his neck in pain, the cobra began to “school him on the dance floor.” That moment was when the inception of Cobra Starship evidently began.
Regardless of how ridiculous or far-fetched that all sounds the band surprisingly sticks to it.
Snake bite or not Saporta, with some help from William Beckett of The Academy Is…, Travis McCoy of Gym Class Heroes and Maja Ivarsson of The Sounds, wrote the debut single “Bring It (Snakes on a Plane)” which was released on the “Snakes on a Plane” movie soundtrack.
The music video premiered in summer 2006, aptly in time for the premiere of the movie and was an instant hit on the Internet and mainstream media.
The success of the single inspired Gabe Saporta to recruit some fellow New York City club-goers, guitarist Ryland Blackinton, bassist Alex Suarez, drummer Nate Novarro and keytarist Victoria Asher.
Three albums, a spot on The Warped Tour and countless other shows across the world later, Cobra Starship has asserted itself as one of the hottest bands around.
Sound-wise Cobra Starship are a interesting mix of various elements of pop music.
They basically mix hip-hop influenced dance beats with ‘80s-esque synthesizers, and upbeat pop-punk tempos into one radio-friendly package that has garnered some significant success recently.
Guitarist Ryland Blackinton, elegantly described their sound as “Justin Timberlake, if he wasn’t as good looking or as good at making music.”
Cobra’s approach to song writing is strange when compared to most.
Unlike most bands who rehearse their music constantly while writing, Cobra spends most of the songwriting in front of a computer screen.
“We start with a beat, layer in the melody and then try to structure it from there,” said bassist Alex Suarez, who along with Ryland Blackinton does the majority of the production, “rehearsal in usually the last step.”
Alex Suarez attributes the diversity of Cobra’s music to the fact that they get bored easily and try not to stick to one sound throughout their records.
“I don’t think we listen to anything, that sounds like what we make,” said Suarez. Cobra Starship’s show at CampusFest was more than entertaining.
Their recent popularity produced a much larger turn-out than Friday night’s Tantric.
Openers Josh Gracin and Advocate were adequate in entertaining the crowd.
Fellow opener Matt Nathanson’s potty-mouthed humor and great singing voice put the crowd in the perfect mood to watch Cobra Starship.
Cobra Starship’s set featured all their hits and was sure to please the average fan.
The sound on Saturday night was significantly better than the previous night, allowing everyone in the audience to hear all the various keyboards, guitars, and keytars featured in Cobra Starship’s music.
The improved sound really allowed front-man Saporta to shine.
Though he does not have the strongest vocal talent, Saporta has a animate swagger, and his charisma instantly sends energy to the crowd.
The majority of the drums in Cobra Starship’s music are comprised of electronic beats, it was impressive to hear how well the songs transferred to a live drummer playing them.
Nate Navarro is a stellar drummer, and he did a fantastic job keeping the dancy feel Cobra’s known for, as well as adding a distinct energy not found on their recordings.
Cobra’s encore was the highlight of the evening as they returned to the stage to perform their single “Good Girls Go Bad,” which was for most of the audience the song they waited the whole evening to hear.
Though their music may not be ground-breaking or pioneering, Cobra Starship enjoys writing catchy pop songs.
In addition to their highly energetic live performances shows why they were a perfect headliner for this year’s Campusfest.
Campusfest biggest mistake was splitting the headliner to two different days.
Having all the bands play on the same night would have provided a great mix of different musical genres, creating the festival atmosphere that the UAB was trying to achieve.
Sadly, CampusFest’s overall turnout was a let down.
Granted there was more people who attended the Saturday night show than the Friday show, it still felt like there were more UAB members around than concertgoers.
UAB did a great job selecting production companies as the entire event’s stage and lighting was well put together and looked professional.
Hopefully UAB can see this Campusfest as a stepping-stone to having more music come to Clarion.