Calvin band Manhattan branches out to local venues

The band Manhattan is primarily composed of students from Calvin college and began in 2015. This past Saturday, Manhattan made a milestone debut at the Fuse Box, a multi-purpose venue space located in downtown Grand Rapids.

Manhattan, formerly known as The Manhattan Project, has a sound that draws from many musical styles, including:  classic rock, progressive rock, seventies pop and jazz. Saturday’s concert featured many of the band’s new songs and some favorite covers. It was free to the public, although the band started a Kickstarter for any donations.

The band consists of Sam Mann, Cory Greeno, Joe Joel, Royce Lloyd and Parker DeWitt. Mann leads with singing and rhythm guitar, followed by Greeno on lead guitar, Joel on bass guitar, Lloyd on drums and DeWitt with saxophone and synth. Mann, Greeno, Joel and Lloyd are all juniors at Calvin.

Mann was particularly excited about the band’s performance at the Fuse Box.

“This particular concert was big for us because it was our first gig off campus that we weren’t part of a collaborative,” said Mann. “We didn’t open for anybody else, this was solely our concert, debuting a lot of our new music that’s going to be on our album.”

Manhattan is currently working on original songs, and the band is looking to compile an album by the end of next semester. They are also on the lookout for more opportunities to play at local venues like the Fuse Box, which will help them get more involved in the Grand Rapids community over the next year.

Information and updates on Manhattan can be found on their Facebook page, and their newest single “Manipulation” is on iTunes and Spotify under their former name, The Manhattan Project.