St. Michael's and Burlington feel the ViV
by Page Robinson
The Echo, September 22nd, 2004
St. Michael's and Burlington feel the ViV
Page Robinson | staff editor
jrobinson@smcvt.edu
Thursday night, Sept. 16, St. Michael’s was visited by up-and-coming rockers, ViV, who played an hour long acoustical set in the lobby of Alliot and a louder, harder and heavier electrical show later that night at Nectar’s in downtown Burlington.
ViV performing in Alliot on Thursday night
Though the band usually plays electrically, lead singer and guitarist Matt Ostrander says, “We love mixing up our tours with acoustical shows and electric shows.”
ViV consists of Matt Ostrander- vocals/guitar, Andrew Griffin- percussion, Justus Dorbin- keyboard, Mike “Pie” Fiorentino- electric violin/mandolin/guitar and Erik Semo- bass/vocals.
The band was started in 2001 and recently released their sophomore album “Flawed” in March 2004, working with Ten Toes Over Production.
“People compare us to Radiohead, Cold Play, U2 and Neil Young. The difference is, we basically have two lead singers…and we’re better,” says Ostrander with a laugh.
Backed by Fiorentino on guitar, violin and backup vocals, Ostrander and Semo sat down in the lobby of Alliot and sang their hearts out to a quiet crowd of around 30 people, as passersby got a taste of their melodic harmony.
Though Ostrander says the band is used to bigger crowds, he adds, “I enjoyed the ambiance [of the Alliot lobby]” and wrote on his Web site that Alliot and the food are “kick ass!”
St. Michael’s senior Trevian Stanger, attended ViV’s Alliot performance and says “the sound was like a lighter version of 90’s Seattle rock.” Stanger also says “the bald guy (Pie) played a mean violin.”
After finishing their set at St. Michael’s, the band rushed down to Nectar’s where they cranked up the volume with the remaining members of the band (Dorbin and Griffin).
Mike Villemaire, 24, of Burlington, attended the performance and enjoyed it. “The band had a unique blend of soft songs that still rocked. It’s an oddly familiar sound that is still a little different than anything you’d want to compare it with," says Villemaire.
ViV live at Nectar's on Thursday
The band is currently touring to promote their new album. After stopping in Burlington, the band played at Middlebury College on Friday and Johnson State College on Saturday.The tour moves to Massachusetts this week, where they will play at Wheaton College, Endicott College and Governor Drummer Academy before heading to Maine.
Ostrander says the band is starting take off and their music has been licensed by MTV (Road Rules, MTV Extreme and The Real World), Tyra Banks’ show, America’s Next Top Model and ESPN. Most recently, the band appeared on Queer Eye for the Straight Guy on Sept. 10.
Frontier Airlines also licensed songs from their unreleased DVD and will be showing clips on all their planes starting this fall, says Ostrander.
Who are ViV?
According to Ostrander, ViV was started in 2001 in San Francisco, CA. The band’s two lead singers, Ostrander and Semo, met while attending Cornell University in New York. After, they moved to California, where the band established themselves with "ViV and a Movie," says Ostrander.
"Basically, it launched the career of ViV...Instead of just having music as the sole reason people should come [see us] each week, the band decided to incorporate live films and art work into the night... It was soon a cult classic the [San Francisco] Bay Area," says Ostrander about the bands beginnings.
Their first album, titled “ViV White Album,” was released in 2001. The album includes songs such as “Crooked Smile,” “Too Good To Be True” and “Green,” which was called a “haunting acoustic ballad that wouldn’t have been out of place on the Beatles’ ‘Abbey Road,’” in a review by The Mercury News, San Jose, Calif..
Their second album, “Flawed,” was released in March 2004 and is already drawing lots of attention.
Ostrander says mor than 100 college radio stations are now airing songs from the album. Noteworthy songs include “Did I,” “Flawed” and “Bob Dylan Said.”
The band is performing at colleges all over New England and the Northeast through November. Ostrander says they may be releasing a live music DVD, possibly at the beginning of next year.
ViV music can be downloaded through iTunes and their music and merchandise can be purchased on their Web site (http://www.vivtheband.com).
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