On Sept. 26, Drake Bell played a show at Phantom Power alongside openers Michael Wavves and Minivan. Drawing in a crowd of over 200 people, Wavves, a 2014 Millersville University graduate, was a great artist to get the night started.
Wavves is a teacher by day and a performer by night. “I knew that I would become a teacher, but I knew I didn’t want to stop chasing my dreams, so I decided to take the risk of doing both,” Wavves said when referring to teaching and touring.
“I remember falling in love with music in college,” said Wavves. “I loved writing poetry, and it transformed into writing songs. I really discovered that in my time at Millersville.” Wavves played a 45-minute set of songs that were full of energy alongside his guitarist, who also had amazing crowd engagement.
A major highlight of Wavves’ performance was when he came down into the crowd during some of his songs and danced and sang around with fans. Wavves absolutely was a great pick from Phantom Power to have as one of the opening acts for Bell. Shortly after Wavves, the central PA band, Minivan, took the stage.
Minivan has been playing since 1992, with Lonny, Wes, and Ray being the three original members, with guitarist Justin bringing a fresh new light to the band. Their set featured many hits from artists such as Weezer, Ween, The Toadies, Fountains of Wayne, and even Jimmy’s Chicken Shack, who played at Phantom Power last month.
They offered a lot of hits to get the crowd excited for the former Nickelodeon star. The crowd was the loudest for “Say It Ain’t So” by Weezer, which was truly a great note to leave for Drake Bell.
A little after 10 p.m., Drake Bell took the stage dressed up in a white polo with tan suspenders, grey checkered pants, and red Adidas. Bell opened with his song “Makes Me Happy,” where the crowd had signs given to them to hold up during the song that said, “Drake, You Make Us Happy!”
Bell’s set was around an hour long, with him even doing a cover of Drake’s song “Hotline Bling.” However, the song that the crowd was the loudest for was “Found a Way,” the Drake and Josh theme song.
For a $35 show on a Friday night, it was absolutely worth it. I had such a good time watching the show and spending time with my friends. Shows at Phantom Power are truly a Millersville staple.
