When upstate band Tangerine Scene — who has made a name for itself by playing shows in Clemson — took the Brooks Center stage Wednesday night, the show’s production manager, Sean Adams, introduced them as “local legends.”
The honorific was a fitting way to set the tone for the night as Tangerine Scene opened for Greenville, South Carolina, natives Darby Wilcox and the Peep Show.
The concert was put on as a part of Clemson’s performing arts 3010 class.
“The whole point of this class is to understand how to put on events, organize them and to learn how to deal with artist relations and technical and production needs, all while doing it in a professional environment at the Brooks Center,” Adams, who also serves as the production director for WSBF-FM, told The Tiger.
“When my professor told me we needed an opener for Darby Wilcox, I knew we had to get Tangerine Scene on the bill,” he said.
While Tangerine Scene has been around for a few years, this was only its second show with an expanded lineup. The band recently added a drummer and a second guitarist alongside lead singer/guitarist Sophie St. James and bassist Olivia St. James.
The band played a mix of covers and original songs, bringing a classic indie singer/songwriter sound that worked well with the mixed-age crowd in attendance.
After finishing out the set with their regular closer, “A Piece of Me,” the St. James sisters handed the mic over to the main event of the night: Darby Wilcox and the Peep Show.
Wilcox is a Greenville, South Carolina, native notable for her style and unique stage presence. On Instagram, she describes herself as the “Mayor of Babetown” and sings with the passion of someone who embodies her title.
Wilcox had the marks of a pro, immediately finding her footing on the Brooks Center stage and settling to the practiced ease of someone who’s been doing this for years and has many more years in them. She had the talented musicians of the Peep Show backing her up on the keyboard and drums, and later into the show, she invited a friend on stage to accompany her on harmonica.
The night was a success, and both artists were captivating on the colorfully-lit Brooks Center stage.
I’ll leave with a sentiment from Darby Wilcox to encompass what I felt as the spotlight caught dancing bodies in the crowd, and I watched with a ready camera from many rows back in the auditorium: “For now, we still have the freedom to make art, and they can’t take that from us.”
