By Ivie Drogin ‘25, Arts and Entertainment Editor

Image Courtesy of Giacomo Messina ‘25

As Giacomo Messina ‘25 once said: “All publicity is good publicity.” And publicity is exactly what the members of Rountable got after their Morning Meeting performance on October 28, 2022 – whether the publicity was good or bad is hard to tell. Giacomo Messina ‘25, Ethan Freed ‘24, and Akhilesh Nair ‘25 make up the band Rountable (no “d”). During the morning meeting, they were promoting their charity concert in support of Friendship Circle and P.G. Chambers School. 

Freed, maybe best known for his signature move of playing the electric bass while lying flat on the floor, has been practicing bass for four years and currently plays for Chameleon. He first started playing upright bass in 7th grade but switched to electric just last year. 

Akhilesh, A.K.A “Ack Attack,” has been playing the drums for ten years. From his humble beginnings in “School of Rock,” a program in Montclair, he grew to be a percussionist in NA’s Orchestra, playing the timpani and snare drum. 

Giacomo, former Chameleon member and the lead singer and guitarist of Rountable, plays more instruments than he knows the name of. From the time he was eight, Giacomo has been building his “musical resume,” learning to play instruments ranging from the drums and piano to the kazoo and mandolin. 

Last year, the highschoolers decided to form Rountable and performed their first concert during Newark Academy’s June Term. This year, their band partnered with NA’s club Strings Attached to plan a charity concert on November 15 in support of organizations that help kids with special needs. Friendship Circle, where bassist Ethan Freed ‘24 volunteers, is a Jewish organization that supports kids with special needs and their parents. P.G. Chambers School, introduced by Strings Attached president Pierce Malloy ‘23, is a school that helps special needs kids. 

At their Morning Meeting performance, the band had only one goal: publicity. Regardless of what you thought about their performance of “Beggin’” and “Hot for Teacher” in Coraci, it is clear that they reached their goal. The unforgettable performance certainly brought attention to the band, which could ultimately have brought in more money for their charities. 

However, the band recently canceled their concert themselves based on backlash from their performance. While the band planned to play songs like “Stacy’s Mom” and “Mr. Brightside,” the response to their 2-song show left them on thin ice, resulting in the cancellation of their concert based on “creative differences.” Though the cancellation might be a surprise to the students, there were many conversations behind the scenes to lead to this point.

But you can still expect the band to perform in the future. Though they may not play at school, the band hopes to book gigs where they can play cover songs as well as originals for their audience. Maybe, if we’re lucky, we might be able to see more Rountable Morning Meetings in the future. 

You can see Rountable’s morning meeting performance and more on their YouTube channel.