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MANY VOICES CELEBRATE THE NEW YEAR
By Kate I. Howard/Daily News staff. NEWPORT - First Night Newport sang farewell to 2004 with music of all kinds throughout the downtown event.
The annual First Night Newport celebration Friday night featured art displays at local galleries and a children's entertainment tent, but the focus was on music with about 150 artists scheduled at 18 venues.
The historic stage of the Jane Pickens Theater on Touro Street turned into a pop music carnival, with pop and rock groups performing to the delight of screaming teenagers.
The singing and dancing of 17-year-old Brandon Lentz, with a glittering smile and diamond studs to match, was a hit with the teenage-girl crowd. With backup dancers and a headset microphone, Brandon sang cuts like "Miss Busybody" and "Fantasy Girl."
In fact, Brandon seemed to have brought his own entourage. Girls crowding the stage said they love Brandon and go to his shows because he's really talented.
"We've seen Brandon a couple times, and we'll go wherever he's performing," Amanda Botelho, 16, of Warren said. "He's definitely starting to get popular."
Amanda and several friends from all over New England came to see Brandon and BandCamp, an alternative punk-rock band. Many looked thrilled to be the focus of his attention as they stood among more than a dozen girls to get close-up views.
"He needs the support from his best fans," Amanda said with a grin.
Also performing at the Jane Pickens was petite singer and actress Jillian Wheeler. The 13-year-old has been in stage productions, movies such as "Mystic River" and toured with other artists through Radio Disney. The spirited singer was followed by BandCamp and Jada, an R&B girl group from Boston.
The adult crowd had plenty of venues as well, with Irish, classical and bluegrass stations set up across the city. New Beginnings Praise & Worship Center on Central Street joined the First Night festivities for the first time, filling their church with praise music by local worship bands.
"When we first called (event organizer Charles Roberts) and said we wanted to be a part of this, he was thrilled and we were, too," parishioner Theresa Soares of Portsmouth said. "This is the first time churches have opened their doors for this, and we'll probably want to do this every year now."
Jazz dynamo Paul Geremia filled St. Paul's Church on Marlborough Street, billed for the event as "the house that rocks," with his finger picking blues. It didn't take long for nearly everyone in the crowd to start tapping their toes, and Geremia peppered his traditional blues with some political commentary, offering his hope that the next year will be better than the last. He reflected on the "interesting" nature of the outgoing year and the elections it brought.
"Oh well," he said between chords on his guitar. "Four years will go by in no time."
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