As summer's intense heat gradually gives way to the cool, crisp air of a New England autumn, Fall Fest will arrive on the Residential Quad this weekend. Headliners Save Ferris promise to put on an energetic set, and according to frontwoman Monique Powell, the band is more than ready to do so.
"We're really excited. I love Boston, always have," she says over the phone from her home in Los Angeles. "If there were three places I'd live outside of L.A., they'd be Seattle, London, or Boston."
The band, usually recognized as a prominent ska outfit, put out three albums in the '90s. But since their last album, Modified, things have begun to change.
"We're just writing a lot of songs that don't require horns," Powell says. As a result, two of the band's seven founding members are no longer officially in Save Ferris. "We miss them; we're still friends," she says with a dash of pathos in her ebulliently youthful voice. Saturday's set, however, will feature a guest trumpeter. Currently, the band is working on demos for its fourth album.
So, has Save Ferris traded in its trademark horns for a more straightforward rock sound?
"There's so much more to it than that," says Powell. "And that's so f---- Spinal Tap to say, but I think every musician understands that at some point. There's a lot of rock and pop and punk." Still, she insists that the band's new material is "still cooking," and that Saturday's show will mainly feature songs from the group's first three albums.
The band just finished touring the US on the annual Van's Warped Tour and spent time this year in Southeast Asia. It's also been cleared to play in China, which Powell says may afford the group some interesting possibilities in the near future. While Save Ferris is looking into the possibility of playing more college shows, Powell is being careful about that.
"Do I have to watch my language?" she asks cautiously. On a college tour a few years ago, Save Ferris stirred up the ire of several religious colleges by using colorful language on stage. "It wasn't even profanity, it was just the word 'vagina.' I had the crowd chanting 'Vagina!' Is that so bad?"
Perhaps we'll find out Saturday.
