Festivus brings collaborations of local art

Max’s Place was host to local musicians, artists, and fans of both Friday night as part of “Festivus for the Rest of Us” sponsored by Alpha Pack Records.

The event was the brainchild of rapper and Festivus performer Chinedu Onye, his manager Rachel Awoyemi and friend Rex Parker. They partnered with “Womp.in,” an online music discovery platform similar to Spotify.

Onye, who performs under the stage name Jayali, said he wanted the event to bring all the culture Bloomington has to offer together in one place.

“Bloomington is so acclaimed for the arts, but I always wondered, ‘where are all the events?’” he said. “We came up with a music and arts showcase to give people the ability to be involved with music and the arts and marry visual arts with the music scene here.”

In addition to raising awareness of the local arts, the Festivus was also designed to give back. Ten percent of the proceeds from the show went to Bloomington’s Trained Eye Arts Center, which contributed some of the artwork displayed at the show.

Starting at 9 p.m. the event was emceed by Deshawn Tyree, a member of the Iota Phi Theta, Inc. fraternity on campus.

Kicking off the evening was the Ill Intentions Consotrium. Featuring a keyboardist, drummer, tubist and vocalist, the gospel/funk/jazz group performed covers of Erykah Badu’s “Rimshot” and Lauryn Hill’s “Doo Wop (That Thing).” Jayali joined the group at the end of their last song for a surprise rap cameo and encouraged everyone to enjoy themselves.

Singer AnnaMarie Hosei took the stage afterwards for her four-song set, performing songs by Corinne Bailey Rae and Adele as well as two songs from her EP “Am,” which she said was available on Spotify, Facebook and iTunes.

Folk duo An Argot took the stage third, performing a set that featured their dueling guitars and harmonious melodies. Band member Justin Renner said playing at the Festivus was a true pleasure.

“It was super fun to play,” Renner said. “We would love to work with Trained Eye and Womp again in the future.”

The evening ended with jokes from comedian Sully and rap performances by Lord Netty and Jayali, who were accompanied by the Ill Intentions band.

Onye said he was pleased with the event, saying the Festivus raised enough money for Trained Eye to allow Alpha Pack Records to become one of their partner organizations.

“Trained Eye Arts now has a group of professionals that are knowledgeable of the music industry, and specifically in the music industry right here in Bloomington,” he said. “We plan to help them create more opportunities to bridge the gap between Indiana University, the Bloomington general public and the network of talented creatives.”