RPInsider

Editors Note: The following concert review was sent in to us by Dan Scheffler. We hope you enjoy it!

“Having just stomached some of the wondrous offerings of a one, Commons Dining hall, I sauntered into the Houston Field House, multicolored ear plugs in hand. I knew what to expect from last year’s Honda Civic Tour and RPI’s solution to poor venue acoustics (volume to 11 please.) I watched as Hey Monday played to a crowd of mostly non-RPI civilians. This was easily deduced by noting that most of them were being monitored by their mommies, were shorter than 5 ft., and had a combined shriek worse than that of anything known to man.

But back to the music. Hey Monday played a decent set, and at least got enough exposure through each of the other bands that the audience couldn’t forget them (rather was not allowed to.) They had a decent set and certainly attempted to play to the crowd. And in my humble but completely warranted opinion – were much better live than on disc.

With them finished, I took a marvel as to how the music didn’t sound like UPAC Sound’s usual job and how peaceful the crowd seemed. It was nice not to have people swooning over half profile pictures of band members every 12 seconds.

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Get off of 787 and find yourself in a 19th century pumphouse!  We ate at the Albany Pump Station recently, and we have to say that we were impressed!

The decor strikes you from the minute you walk in — the ceiling is about 25 feet high.  We were treated to prompt service, and there was no wait for a table (more than can be said for many downtown Troy restaurants).

The food was a bit better than expected for the price range ($10-25 per entree).  The two of us enjoyed a Reuben and a cheeseburger, both of which were delightful.  While the potatoes on another dish came out a bit cold, the quality of the food made up for it, and the waiter was wonderful.  He checked in frequently enough, but not so much that it was disturbing.

All in all, we recommend the Pump Station for RPI students wanting to get a taste of something other than Sodexo.  Just a short drive away, and situated in Downtown Albany, you can make an evening (or date!) out of it easily by walking up to the capital or down Lark or Pearl Streets.  Enjoy!  We did!

Albany Pump Station on Google Maps (Driving/Bus Directions)

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As students, one of the benefits we get at EMPAC are discounted tickets. (We wouldn’t mind free, but hey…) This past November, EMPAC played host to a New York based theater company who call themselves  Elevator Repair Service.  They performed their show Gatz. An ambitious 7 hour long show in the EMPAC theater was performed by a cast of 13 two nights in a row.

Now, we at RPInsider would probably admit to enjoying plays more than the average college aged RPI student, but we think Gatz was phenomenal.  The show starts off in a low rent office building, with a man who walks in and after fighting a comedic loosing battle with his computer, finds a copy of The Great Gatsby amongst the things on his desk and begins to read it out loud. (The play is a reading of the novel.)  It is then that the office and the world in the book begin to collide. After the first intermission you have just been sold on the concept,  are ready to move around (the chairs look cool, but are a little flat after 2+ hours of sitting on them),  and then are ready to dive back into F. Scott Fitzgerald’s prose. Elevator Repair Service chose to keep the magic and rhythm of the book by not cutting  anything from it.

It would be reasonable to say that it was better than some Broadway shows. We hope it ends up there eventually.

Verdict: Hot

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