Performers and music-lovers alike huddled together in Sessions Bar & Resto for 2017’s Rites of Passage Vol. II: Soloists’ Night. With a lineup of soloists collated into groups representing different themes, the night was both musically diverse and entertaining.
Getting the night started were the roster heads, who ignited the crowd with a funky rendition of Michael Jackson’s P.Y.T. Once the mood had been set, the soloist groups began taking the stage, beginning with Different Strokes. The 90s group brought back the sounds of their childhood with a set fueled by teen-angst, with songs like All Apologies, Creep, and Magasin, and original composition Alone. They were an energetic start to the night, getting the crowd roused for the sets ahead.
The country group, cheekily named What the Folk, played standards Sweet Home Alabama and Leaving on a Jet Plane, along with original song Drunk On a Thursday Night. Other than the genre that defined the set, the group also had another recurring theme: all the songs they played belonged to dead artists, including a heartfelt tribute to the late Taylor Swift with Love Story.
Next was the self-proclaimed “sexier sounds” of the night, the blues and soul chapter. True to this proclamation, the group got the crowd swaying and snapping their fingers to their renditions of songs like Hit The Road Jack and Valerie. While their genre is known to be slow and soulful, the band made sure to add some liveliness to their set, with some guitar, piano, and drum solos scattered throughout that captivated the audience and made them go crazy.
What’s a jam night session without some iconic pop songs from the 70s and 80s? The soloists put on a show for AMP’s audience as they slowly start with an emotional hymn by Cyndi Lauper: Time After Time. However, they soon kicked off the beat with dance anthem by one and only KING of Pop, Michael Jackson. Rock With You rocked the house down leaving the audience dancing to their beat. They then transitioned into a masterful mix of modern pop songs such as Versace on the Floor, finally ending their set with a karaoke special: Don’t Stop Believing.
The soloists end the night with 70s Hard Rock classic songs. Every AC/DC fan surely enjoyed themselves, as the last band of soloists start their performance with Highway to Hell. The audience sang along with a dynamic set full of vibration and energy. Their renditions of Don’t Want to Miss a Thing, Stairway to Heaven, and a mix of modern and original songs gave life to the audience as the AMP musicians wildly end the night-- the Soloists Night.