Lights, check.

Instruments, check.

Artists, check.

Audience? Nowhere to be found.

The small, intimate space of the Schine Underground, made smaller by the many café-style tables and chairs, was less than half-filled at the beginning of the Pato Margetic show on Friday evening.

The show was to begin at 7:30, a mere three minutes after the scheduled tip-off of the Syracuse vs. Oklahoma NCAA Tournament matchup. Although the crowd grew as the show progressed, the turnout was still dismal. And despite decent advertising, most of those in attendance were brothers of the ACACIA fraternity, the organization that was sponsoring the event.

The ACACIA brothers were bothered that students didn’t come out to support their cause. One dollar from every $4 dollar ticket sold went directly to Relay for Life, which was held from Saturday evening into Sunday morning.

‘I wish more people would have come, because we were tying it to a good cause. If more people came we could have made a bigger donation,’ said James Feng, a freshman environmental engineering student and ACACIA brother.

Quoc Tuan Nguyen, a senior in the Martin J. Whitman School of Management, believes the low turnout worked in favor of the artist.

‘Artists like Pato work best in an intimate setting … he can connect with the audience,’ Nguyen said.

Pato Margetic is an R&B artist who is based in Detroit and in love with his music.

‘I feel so blessed that I’m free to do this,’ said the up-and-coming singer/songwriter after the show.

His appreciation for his music and those who take the time to listen to it was evident throughout his set. He stopped on numerous occasions to divulge humorous and personal anecdotes to the audience that explained how each of his songs came into existence. Each story he told was treated with a certain reverence that still let him show his personal humor and tragedies.

Margetic’s songs, which touch on day-to-day occurrences and small inspirations, appealed greatly to the audience. They shouted requests for songs, replied to the artist’s seemingly rhetorical statements, and snapped, clapped and sang along with him.

Not only were Margetic’s songs appealing, but his personality showed a certain charisma that appealed to all in the audience that night.

Sarah Aument, a freshman in the S.I Newhouse School of Public Communications, opened for Margetic with an acoustic set of original songs. The 18-year-old artist’s style, while not quite identical to Vanessa Carlton’s or Michelle Branch’s, most resembles a mesh between a female John Mayer and Colby Calliat.

Aument’s songs complemented Margetic’s well, and so did her voice. At the close of the show, Margetic and Aument paired up to close with an impromptu duet.

Ken Smith, president of ACACIA, was very pleased with both Margetic’s and Aument’s performances.

‘The two artists were superb,’ Smith said. ‘Pato is doing some really great things and we’re expecting him to go far. Sarah has an opportunity to do good things too. She is a superb musician.’

jlsmit22@syr.edu

Published on March 29, 2009 at 12:00 pm