Radio City. Photo Courtesy of Casey Austen.

Bands Bright Giant from Des Moines, Iowa, and Radio City from Emporia are coming together for a second time at 10:30 p.m. tomorrow night at Beer:30. Guitarist for Bright Giant Josh Davis said this summer the two bands tried to play a show together, but stomach sickness kept the band’s drummer Will Locker off the stage. Davis and guitarist Noah Mass did an acoustic show instead.

“My drummer got some sort of food poisoning or the flu or something and couldn’t even sit for sound check, he’d just puke and puke and puke, and so our trip got cut short that time,” Davis said.

Bright Giant is opening and Davis said the band is bringing some new songs. He said they are excited to play for a college town.

“I think younger folks and that college age, somewhere in that area like our music best and those are the kind of people we want to play in front of,” Davis said.

Radio City guitarist and Emporia State graduate student Eric Murphy said Bright Giant is like a “band girlfriend” in that the bands are willing to help each other out and play together.

“They help us and we try to help them when we can, but they’re further along than we are, so it’s huge. It’s awesome that they do what they do for us,” Murphy said.

Guitarist for Radio City Matt Kosinski said the two groups met at a Record Bar show in Kansas City about six months ago. Bright Giant went on before the Emporia-based band and Murphy and Kosinski were both impressed. He said the bands have played together various times since that first show.

“We had just a mutual enjoyment of each other’s sets and then finding out that they were awesome guys too, everybody in that band is just good people and they play great music and it’s just a blast hanging out with them,’” Kosinski said.

Davis said the appreciation is mutual and both bands are scheduled to play together more in the future, including all this weekend and Labor Day weekend.

“It’s good to have bands like Radio City to trade with because we always know we’ll have solid performers with us right away,” Davis said.

Kosinski said the crowd in Emporia is usually really receptive if a band gives their all, whereas in other places the band has played, the audience doesn’t get as into it. He said unknown bands show up at Beer:30 and if they “play their hearts out” they get a response.

“We’ve played places outside of Emporia where you play balls to the wall, hard as you can, put every ounce of energy into the song and you look out there and nobody’s even paying attention at all,” Kosinski said.

Murphy said other bands from out of town have come in and noticed how much fun the crowd has and passed the word along.

“There’s just really not a lot of crowds like there are at Beer:30. Every band we’ve brought has loved it and told other bands about it,” Murphy said.

Murphy said Radio City recently finished recording their first full-length CD in St. Louis that should be released sometime in November. He said the band plans to have a CD release parties in Emporia and other cities where they play.

Kosinksi said there’s a difference between seeing a local band and a touring band play. He said he hopes people come out and see that Radio City is serious about the music and is actually becoming a band.

“There’s supposed to be a difference – local bands are just rag tag kids that just put a bunch of stuff together, and that’s the beginning of the evolution of a band. You’ll see it once you get out and about and on the road,” Kosinski said.

Lauren Walbridge

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