Penstock Coffee Roasters’ Sapphire Social Club dishes out latte-night melodies
Less than 10 minutes away from campus, an unprecedented night of rock, rap and soulful music overtook Penstock Coffee Roasters last month. Throughout the night's event, dubbed the Sapphire Social Club, an audience of regulars and supporters of the performers filled every corner of the local coffee shop.
The Club saw performances from a colorful group of bands and soloists, all of whom were introduced with fervor and admiration by Neo, a model and musician.
The night kicked off with a performance from Jules, a local singer-songwriter. The artist led the audience through a cover of SZA's "Ghost in the Machine" before unveiling two impressive ballads she’d written that morning, which seemed to demonstrate the two sides of losing a relationship.
Her first song, "Garden of You," walked the audience through the conflicting emotions of a sorrowful relationship, intertwining feelings of guilt, anger and remnants of love and desire for affection. Lyrics like "Gave you every piece of me, afraid you needed more / Said I could stay or run away, don't know what I did it for" had listeners spellbound.
Her second track, "My Mind," took on a more self-appreciative and empowering tone, with the musician belting lyrics such as "At the end of the day, no one's eating for free / I got a mind of my own."
Jules' performances, which had taken on a more soulful tone, were followed by a fellow soloist who energized the audience, Sensei Pheonix.
The artist debuted his upcoming unreleased album centered around his personal development.
Each song called on powerful, sustained and noticeably cathartic vocals from the artist with lyrics such as "When I was sad and on the floor, you kicked me when I was down / I felt your boot, I tasted ground."
The artist then passed the mic over to local rapper Benny Classics, who invited the audience to dance to songs he would debut that evening. His infectious moves had every patron of the event tapping their toes. The artist cued the entire audience into singing a three-syllable refrain as he performed his final song.
Classics' animated performance was followed by the gentle voice of Alejandra and impressive riffs of Will, together known as The Transitive Property. The two covered a mix of their own songs, some released and others yet to be published, and covers, such as Phoebe Bridgers' "The Gold."
Next up was MisMagick, a duo consisting of a guitarist and his former music instructor. The band's incredibly mellow vocals, bold lyrics, powerful guitar riffs and infectious smiles took the crowd on a diverse and energetic adventure.
Bucky, MisMagick's guitarist, said the band's distinct, hard-to-place style is intentional. When asked, he didn't offer a concrete answer — he said it's up to the audience to determine exactly what genre it fits into.
"I saw a lot of (my teacher) and also he had his own style … he didn't sound like anybody else," the performer said. "I was like, I don't know what you're doing, it's kind of magic to me."
The night closed off with an explosive performance from The Parallel Lines, an eccentric emo band. Their strong finish had the audience joining in with clapping and hair flipping.
The inaugural "Sapphire Social Club," truly showcased the diversity of voices, identities and the ways experiences can be channeled into music, be it through ballads, harmonies or window-rattling rock performances.
