Slightly Stoopid: Slightly uninspired

The reverberating bass sounded throughout the club. The audience was full, the fans were pumped and everyone was jumping up and down in sync with the music. A haze of smoke filled the club, and Slightly Stoopid came to center stage. But the band never showed up, only their disappointing performance did, leaving a less than amazed crowd.

Slightly Stoopid voices many familiar sounds. Their lyrics alone reveal the band's personal views. There's lots of talk about peace and marijuana, but the quartet doesn't come close to the genuine sounds of artists they mimic, namely Bob Marley and Sublime. Their punk/reggae sound, too, gives off the vibe that the whole world needs to chill out.

Perhaps it is this unoriginality that makes for a mediocre performance. Over the course of the night, the group's repertoire seemed to be split in two. Half of their songs had a punk tone, and the other half leaned more towards reggae. They played most of the audience's favorite songs, including "Collie Man," "Fire Shot," "Wiseman," "Mellow Mood" and "Officer."

"Collie Man" proved to be the highlight of the set. Front man Miles Doughty sang over a mellow track and single guitar, "Doesn't really matter/As long as the music goes on" and "You know the rocky, rocky road/You know that life and love is a heavy, heavy load." Stronger than the lyrics was the relaxing melody of the song, and with the bass blasting at the concert, the song was phenomenal.

"Fire Shot," another hit, boasted a unique sound and familiar lyrics which encouraged crowd involvement with the memorable line, "We got the fire shot madness." The song also served as a break from having to watch out for moshers in the crowd during the more intense songs, like "Just a Buzz."

"Wiseman" served as a crowd pleaser at the concert on Wednesday. Another reggae sound, the song puts more emphasis of the beat and arrangement of the song than the lyrics. The tune alone is enough to make "Wiseman" a great song. The more subdued melodies of the song allowed the audience to sway along with the song as they sang, giving the audience a powerful vibe from the band. Slightly Stoopid also performed "Mellow Mood," which gives the audience with a similar reaction.

"Officer" offered a slightly more upbeat melody than many of the other songs. The more psychedelic sounds fit well with the lyrics, which discuss the narrator trying to convince the police that the marijuana they possess isn't theirs. Aside from being faintly amusing, the chorus has great lyrics which sent a universal message to the musically savvy: "Let's get this party started/until the break of dawn and/lets get this party moving/ all you got to do is sing."

Had Slightly Stoopid only played these songs, the concert would have been amazing. In fact, the energy during these songs skyrocketed and the whole audience sang along. Unfortunately, the band strayed very far from these fantastic sounds and ventured into a more intense territory of punk songs and mosh pits. Not only are these punk-rock songs of theirs not as good, but they give the audience a reason to create a mosh pits, which is extremely undesirable for those uninterested in the violent dancing.

Just as in their album releases, Slightly Stoopid's melodies and beats were more inspired then their trite lyrics. There was not much to sing along to other than the choruses of select songs.

Sadly, Slightly Stoopid's live performance was not much different from their recorded work. Although they did emit good energy from the stage, the band didn't do much to engage the audience.

If you're a fan who is upset about missing this concert, don't feel too bad. Just sit back, pop in one of Slightly Stoopid's many albums, turn up the speakers and relax. You'll never even notice the difference.