Photo by Ashley Mejia/For the Daily Titan

By Ashley Mejia
For the Daily Titan

The gloomy, rainy weather that set in last week had no effect and did not stop the good vibrations that were felt in the Cantina Lounge, a popular off-campus hangout.

The Golden West Artist Management of Southern California got three bands together from San Diego and Orange County: Pacific Dub, Through the Roots, and headliners Seedless, getting the reggae vibes going.

Despite the cold weather, a good crowd of fans and friends of the bands showed up to enjoy dancing and to sing the night away.

Andrew Lancisero, a friend of Seedless, kept it sweet and simple when asked how he felt about the evening: “Good people, good atmosphere, good drinks, enjoying the friends you have and good vibes.” The mood inside the lounge was very mellow and relaxing – a good quality for reggae. Everyone inside seemed to be enjoying themselves throughout the night.

Starting the night off was Huntington Beach’s Pacific Dub. They had excellent energy right from the start. Just releasing their first full-length album, Fire Eye in August, the reggae/dub/rock band was ready to share their music with everyone. The psychedelic patterns that were on the background monitors helped get the crowd in the mood for the sound they were about to experience. The solid guitar riffs of their lead guitarist Bryce Klemer to the harmonious sounds of lead singer Colton Place and drummer David Delaney, who also lent his talents on vox, combined with the intense baselines of bassist Ryan Naglich made this up-and-coming band unforgettable.

The band was as enthused as their crowd; even when their fans stopped dancing, the band kept up the feel-good vibes by dancing onstage and giving away gifts as an incentive to get people to dance with them. Needless to say, it worked.

The bands’ faithful promoter, who goes by Radical RP said, “Rising up fast, Through the Roots from San Diego and Pacific Dub are two bands that I believe in and have been helping them rise up by putting them in shows up and down the coast from the West Beach Music Festival to other big shows in Santa Barbara.”

Through the Roots played after Pacific Dub. At first they had some minor technical problems setting up, but once they were fixed, lead singer Evan Hawkins sang as if nothing happened. One thing that makes the band stand out is the strong sounds of the keyboard played by Brady O’Rear and the eerie sounds of Chris Cruz’s guitar. The band was able to capture new fans.

Travis Copeland who came from Garden Grove said, “The concert was way cool. It was my first time going to the spot, and I was definitely stoked on how it was set up and how the sound was. The band who stood out the most was Through the Roots. They played the best reggae and had good stage presence. I would go see all the bands again; reggae shows are the best shows.”

Closing out the show with a bang was Seedless. The smooth playing skills of Casey Sullivan and Matthew Liufau helped get the crowd going one last time before the night was over. The versatile band switched things up by playing slow soft music one second, and in the next they were throwing out some metal sure to throw people off and keep them rocking. The lead singer even stopped to be a good boyfriend and call his girlfriend to wish her a happy birthday and had everyone in the crowd sing her happy birthday. With the warm summer-like tunes coming out of the Cantina Lounge, it felt like it was still summer.