FREESTATE

The alternative rock band FREESTATE delighted a crowd of more than 100Sacramento State students as they ate lunch at the Joe Serna Jr. Plaza onWednesday.

The band’s humorous introductions and sing-along music pleased the crowd somuch that they demanded an encore. And the band dutifully obeyed their fans’ wishes.”Okay we’ll play one more,” said vocalist/guitar player Jonathan “Luke”Wood. “This is going to be a little ruff, but we’ll play one more.”FREESTATE consists of identical twin brothers Jonathan “Luke” Wood(vocals/guitar) and Joshua Wood (vocals/bass). Original drummer ScottTieber left the band. Filling in as the drummer was Tim Bittle from the Vacaville band,SILENCE. Bittle, despite having learned all the songs in an hour and a half,practice and played with the band only two days, seemed as if he had beenwith the band forever. His performance went beyond a usual drum beat style, andhis part in the demo song “Narrow Road” was complicated and skillful. Thebrothers, who share the microphone equally, have the ability to mix high andlow notes right on key. It really set the stage for exceptional music.

The two brothers had a stage presence that was humorous and sociable. Afterevery song guys and girls would shout to the band and of course, the band would shoutback. They really made sure that the audience was involved. When a girlin a purple shirt shouted a jokingly, “You suck! No really I’m kidding, I’mkidding!” Josh Wood pointed to the crowd and said, “Would someone beat thatgirl.” “You guys are great, I lied,” she said, laughing.

If there were a comparison of FREESTATE and another band, I would say that theysounded a lot like Nirvana or Limp Bizkit. The song “Down” which wasanything but down, was upbeat and reminded me of Limp Bizkit’s song “Show meWhat You Got.” When introducing the song, Josh Wood said “sometimes you look atyourself in the mirror and you’re not happy with what you see.”

“Stand by Me” (not the original song-as quoted by Josh Wood) had a veryNirvana sound, reminiscent of “Breed” on the “Nevermind” album. The songalso had a great guitar solo.

“A Hero’s Trial,” and “Narrow Road” had a Creed or Blink 182 sound,especially with the guitar mixes. They are both on the demo CD FREESTATEpassed out as an incentive to bring people closer to the front, althoughmost of the crowd preferred to sit in the middle of the grass or stand inthe back.

Although Josh and Luke only started playing music three years ago when theywere sophomore’s in high school, the brothers sound like they have beenplaying all of their lives. Josh Wood’s hand hits the bass with scientificrhythm and speed. Luke Wood has his own Jimmi Hendrix like style, completewith chords never seen or heard before.

As for the crowd, they obviously had a great time. With shouts and clapsafter every song, FREESTATE had the crowd glued to the grass.

If you missed FREESTATE this time, you should come check them out next timethey play. They would like to come back to Sac State and will belooking to book another show as soon as possible.

For more information or to see where FREESTATE will play in the future, check outfreestateband.com (which will be up and running in a week).