Milo Returns to the Stage, Puts on High-Energy Show

Milo
Go! Studios

Replete with screaming vocals, sweat-stained shirts and a hard rock attitude, student band Milo hit the stage at Go! Rehearsal Studios for its first performance of the fall semester.

Milo kicked off its set with "Nothing Given," playing to a full house of predominately Greek audience members with pregame fever festering deep inside.

Relying on simple bass lines (Jeremy Buenviaje), a fabulous lead guitar (Tim Smith) and sexy Eddie Vedder type vocals (Russ Baggett) to carry it through, Milo's songs remain firmly rooted in the rock genre.

With a talented forward line up and an effective rhythm section featuring Tim Ellis on drums and Andrew Kinghorn on guitar, it would serve the band well to dabble with slower, more melodically expressive songs.

No one seemed to mind the hard rocking, high-energy performance, and the band cranked out almost an hour's worth of head-nodding, scream-out-your-woes, self-written music. But the band's five-member group and big sound seemed to crowd the small Go! stage, all but begging for a larger venue with a heftier sound system.

Halfway through the show, Milo rolled into a signature tune "Loaded Gun." One of the band's best songs, "Loaded Gun" featured Baggett -- the king of self-expenditure -- enthusiastically thrashing about as he belted out the song's lyrics.

Milo will soon be self-releasing a five-song, studio-recorded album that, unfortunately, will not include "Loaded Gun" -- a bummer for fans and would-be fans alike.

Tiring later in the set, Baggett took a moment with the band to regroup and sheepishly accept a full rendition of the "Happy Birthday Song" from the audience, several of whom were friends of the band.

The show's only real downfall, however, was the fact that despite Baggett's full-throttle performance, the vocals were hard to pick out, making an aesthetically pleasing show somewhat aurally straining. Milo's lyrics tend toward the witty and well-written, unlike most banal if not downright stupid rock lyrics, and thereby deserve to be heard.

All in all, Milo is developing a loyal local following, and there is no real question as to why. The band puts on a hot showing of true talent and good music.

Here's to hoping the future finds Milo with a stage big enough to hold them and the volume cranked way up.

The Arts & Entertainment Editor can be reached at artsdesk@unc.edu.