OGC and the Sunshine Band rocks in its debut (and probably farewell) performance
At the Office of the General Counsel’s campus retreat, five colleagues came together for a one-afternoon-only, Eagles-heavy live show.
To paraphrase Stefon: The hottest club at Northeastern is the Office of the General Counsel’s department retreat. This place has everything: homemade lemon squares, a campus-wide scavenger hunt, and a five-piece (mostly) Eagles cover band made up of OGC colleagues in department-branded baseball caps.
The latter refers to OGC and the Sunshine Band, a newly-formed quintet that played headliner for a mid-July gathering on campus for Northeastern’s central legal office.
“This is our international debut and possibly last concert,” said bassist Mary Strother, introducing the group.
After a quick tune-up, the OGC senior vice president and her band launched into an easygoing rendition of the Eagles’ “Hotel California.” Chris Brackett, OGC’s labor operations manager, played rhythm guitar, sang backup and traded solos with Strother’s son, a high school sophomore who took on the guitar outro in the song’s final minutes.
Rounding out the five-piece were Alexandra Leach, a first-year law student and OGC co-op, on vocals, keys and beatboxing; and Ellen Rubin, a contracts and transactions attorney and lead vocalist who joined OGC and the Sunshine Band two hours before the show.
“We also brought a tambourine for anyone who feels the need to join the band,” Strother added during a break after the final sound check. “Anybody who wants to is invited.”
In Strother’s telling, OGC and the Sunshine Band’s cornerstone is Brackett, a singer and guitarist who performs locally around Boston. During an informal departmental mixer just before Christmas, Brackett brought his guitar out, kicking off an informal jam session that was a huge hit around the office.
Strother, meanwhile, had just started learning the bass.
“I took it up a little over a year ago — it’s on my bucket list,” she said. “I’ve always wanted to play the bass guitar in a band; I think it’s really cool. And I’m not getting any younger.”
The band came about when OGC decided to have its annual departmental retreat onsite, making full use of the Boston offerings to give staffers a fun break. There were campus tours focusing on architecture, robotics and the plants that make up the campus arboretum; Recreation held pickleball and squash lessons for small groups at Marino and Squashbusters; a scavenger hunt had colleagues combing the offices at 716 Columbus Place.
And the Sunday before the Thursday retreat, Brackett and Strother formed the band, had a few crash course rehearsals, and came up with a short setlist.
“It’s Eagles-heavy,” Brackett said, naming “Desperado” and “Take it Easy,” alongside Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Kinks, and “Folsom Prison Blues,” by Johnny Cash.
Their colleagues took in the set over homemade appetizers and potluck drinks; a few sang along. It was an auspicious, supportive start for a band with maybe five hours of rehearsal under its belt; nevertheless, the future is uncertain.
“It’s in the early stages,” Strother said. “Bands break up.”