Jupiter Bar & Grill is ending the school year with a bang, bringing folk-rock group the Benjy Davis Project and electronic artist Bassnectar for today’s and Friday’s shows.
Currently on a national tour in support of their latest album “Lost Souls Like Us,” the Benjy Davis Project will take the Jupiter stage at midnight tonight.
Known for hits like “Do It With the Lights On,” “Louisiana Saturday Night” and “Stay With Me,” Baton Rouge’s Benjy Davis Project has developed a following at many universities. When not playing at colleges, the group has performed at large musical festivals like New Orleans’ Voodoo Fest and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. They have also toured with the likes of Sister Hazel and Robert Randolph.
Made up of Benjy Davis and Mic Capdevielle, the Benjy Davis Project has recently released its newest album. Co-produced by Bobby Capps of .38 Special fame, and Jason Spiewak, the album also features contributions from members of bands like .38 Special, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Lady Antebellum and Big & Rich.
“We’re ready to just all-out play the songs off the new album,” said Capdevielle. “We’re so excited that we want to share it with everybody.”
Grace Francez, a junior majoring in psychology, said he was a huge fan of Benjy Davis.
“I’ve seen them three times and plan on seeing them Thursday,” he said. “Every show I’ve been to has been a good blend of their more popular songs and their new stuff that really grabs the audience’s attention. I’m really looking forward to their show tonight because of their two newest albums, which I really like and have never heard them perform live.”
Supporting the Benjy Davis Project will be singer-songwriter Mikey Wax, who plays at 11 p.m. Vanderbilt alum Wax has gained fame recently through social media websites like Facebook and MySpace. His debut album, “Change Again,” charted on iTunes’ Top 100 albums in November 2008, rising up to number 46. Wax released a six-song EP in February, and it charted on iTunes’s Top 100 albums at number 88 in its first week of release.
Tickets are $8 in advance and $10 at the door, and the concert will end by 2 a.m.
On Friday, the electronica act Bassnectar will perform, taking the stage at 11:30 p.m. Bassnectar, best known for songs like “Cozza Frenzy” and “Art of Revolution,” is comprised solely of Lorin Ashton, who serves as DJ, songwriter and remixer. Ashton’s music, which he describes as “omnitempo maximalism,” is outside any one genre. His music is influenced by and derived from every genre imaginable.
“We are so blessed and so deeply fortunate to be alive and awake right now,” Ashton said. “It’s a basic truth, but it’s very powerful. I think privilege confers responsibility, and Bassnectar is a reflection of that opportunity to give back, the motion of my cells bouncing back at the world.”
Known nationally, Bassnectar has performed at well-known venues like the Coachella Festival in Indio, California, and the Lollapalooza music festival in Chicago. It is Ashton’s second visit to Tuscaloosa in the past year. He performed at the Jupiter in October of last year.
Ben Bradford, a freshman majoring in studio art, saw Bassnectar last year in Alpharetta, Ga.
“It was fun. The whole show is high energy,” he said. “When I saw him, he just had three screens behind him, and it was just him onstage with his turntables and needles. He was just a ball of hair the whole time.”
Tickets for Bassnectar are $20 in advance and $23 after 2 p.m. on Friday. The Jupiter will close at 3 a.m.
Opening for Bassnectar is Eliot Lipp, who will go on at 10 p.m. Lipp comes from Tacoma, Wash., and has been featured in publications like SPIN, Pitchfork and URB. Some of his popular songs include “Beamrider” and “Yeah,” both off his album “Peace Love Weed 3D.” His music is best described as electronic, but he mixes his songs with hip-hop and funk influences.
Tickets for the Benjy Davis Project concert can be bought at the Jupiter after 9 p.m. tonight. Bassnectar tickets can be bought at the Jupiter after 5 p.m. on Friday, or on the Jupiter’s website, www.jupiteronthestrip.com.
