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Photo by Jeremy Grand

By Jeremy Grand

ost every pre-bargoing Long Island adolescent and suburban hipster has at least heard of, if not frequents, The Cup in Wantagh, pleasantly located in a sneaky back street that overlooks the train station and plays happy neighbor to the infamously obnoxious Mulcahy's. The fare is fair, with a mildly wide array of veggie and non-veggie friendly sandwiches, desserts, teas and coffees. The service is terrible, the atmosphere is cramped and on our last visit we found an ant crawling on the plate. Yet, after all these years, it remains what seems to be one of the more popular places to hang out in the mid-island area. Also, they have some pretty good musicians performing from time to time.

Sean Hervey and Matt Sinisi were two of these musicians.

It was a comfortably packed Friday on Aug. 18, and we were lucky enough to get a seat in the front part of the café (otherwise we would be hearing a dimmed version of the set in the back room, but would still have to pay the $1 per person performer fee). The two young men, jeans and T-shirted, guitared and bongoed, began their set, beautifully harmonizing each other with recognizable songs from the adult contemporary radio stations. Their play list was a good mix of slow songs (Peter, Paul and Mary's Leaving on a Jet Plane and Eric Clapton's Wonderful Tonight) and those more upbeat (Jason Mraz's Curbside Prophet, Deep Blue Something's Breakfast at Tiffany's and Sister Hazel's All for You), as well as a few unrecognizable, possibly original, tunes, with a visual expression and enthusiasm that was worth a look.

Although Hervey and Sinisi are both very talented individuals, it would be nice to hear a lot more self-written material instead of a lot of older, been-there songs that are nice to hear and reminisce with. In an age of low attention spans and an increased need for originality, the public needs something a bit more fresh.

All criticism aside, the boys made a really nice backdrop and created a good environment to relax, hang out, drink coffee and chat in, as well as giving a hole like The Cup a good reason for visiting.

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