The Marquette MUsic Student Organization hosted another house show Saturday. This time, however, the organizers gave it an interesting twist: fruit.
From the decor to the outfits, the entire event was fruit-themed. The event’s flyer encouraged audience members to wear their “best fruit apparel or bring a piece of fruit.” Many did not disappoint.
Among the show’s attendees, as well as performers, there were fruit shirts and even full-body outfits. And many who did not wear fruit-themed clothes still celebrated the event with actual fruit, such as one audience member who wore a banana in his breast pocket. A watermelon made its way around the crowd, progressively incurring more bites as the evening went on. Oranges and other smaller fruit were kicked around.
The event took place in the basement of a student’s house on 17th St. Officially beginning at 10 p.m., the show was in full swing by 10:30 p.m. with the basement full of people. The host was Elizabeth O’Brien, a junior at Marquette in the College of Nursing.
O’Brien, a musician herself, attended many similar shows before and said she is a strong supporter of them.
“They’re super fun. It’s really cool because (the musicians) don’t get paid to play but it gets their name out there and they’re all super talented,” O’Brien said. “It’s really cool to be a little part of that.”
As a favor to one of her friends who performed on Saturday, O’Brien agreed to host the event in her own house, opening it up to the Marquette community.
She says these sorts of events are valuable because it can be difficult for musicians to overcome the fear of performing live, and small concerts like house shows make it easier to do just that. She said this is why “the MUsic club is a cool program for people who want to get their name out there and want to perform.”
Some, however, are not as experienced as O’Brien when it comes to these sorts of events. Even so, that does not necessarily stop them from coming to and enjoying the shows.
Jacquie Fiorentino, a senior in the College of Health Sciences, attended one of MUsic’s concerts for the first time this past Saturday. She described it as the “college experience.”
“I think this is what kids look to for a fun night in college — hanging out with people, meeting new people, seeing bands come from all over,” Fiorentino said. “I think this is just what people want to do on a Saturday night.”
Though she had never been able to attend one of these events before, she was looking forward to the opportunity to hear the new music and unique styles of the bands performing that night.
The lineup included Chelsea Sidecar and Young Strangers, with a set by DJ Riptide featuring Avella to end the night.
The first to perform was Chelsea Sidecar, a three-man band made up of Marquette students. They were well-received by the audience and performed enthusiastically, even after one of the drummer’s pedals broke part-way through the performance.
Alex Markewycz, a junior in the College of Business, is the guitarist for Chelsea Sidecar. He also writes and sings some of the songs.
Markewycz said he and his bandmates have been close friends for over two years. Although they have been playing music together for much of that time, the band was only created a few months ago. Since then, they have been playing at a lot of basement shows. Markewycz said that audience members are not the only ones to enjoy the shows.
“I love them because it brings people together and brings people into the same room and they’re able to experience something and enjoy the musical performance together,” Markewycz said.
As far as Markewycz is concerned, house concerts are “a great experience for everyone involved.”
On top of this past Saturday’s house concert, there was a Battle of the Bands event the preceding Friday hosted by Marquette Radio, and Chelsea Sidecar was the winner.
There will be many more opportunities for students to attend basement shows in the future. Marquette MUsic Student Organization hosts many shows throughout the year that are open to all Marquette students. Anyone interested in attending can check the event schedule posted on the MUsic club’s Facebook page @MarqMUsicstudentorg or on Instagram @marquettemusic.
This story was written by Charlotte Ives. She can be reached at [email protected].
