Marquette University Radio is set to host their annual Spring Concert on Wednesday, April 23. For the first time ever, MUR will turn Central Mall — the grassy area between Lalumiere Hall and Raynor Library — into a live music venue.
The Spring Concert traditionally falls after Radio Roulette, Marquette’s own Battle of the Bands. This year, Radio Roulette took place at Third Space Brewing, featuring artists dak duBois, Dominic Gomes Jazz Collective and The Taxmen.
A different panel of judges is chosen each year to determine the winner, compiled of both artists and live music enjoyers. Past judges include Third Space Brewing staff, John Sparrow — drummer for the Violent Femmes, Parker Schultz of local band Social Cig and more. After a careful deliberation, The Taxmen were voted the winners of Radio Roulette and are set to return to Marquette’s campus for the Spring Concert.
The concert will feature a bill entirely of local bands — three of them being made up of Marquette students. This show will center around student performers and musicians, unique to past MUR events, giving students at Marquette the opportunity to perform live.
Performing a DJ set at the beginning of the night will be Ryan Taylor, a junior in the College of Communication. Taylor said he’s looking forward to the opportunity to perform on campus.
“I’m pumped. I don’t take this DJing thing very seriously, so it’s always super nice to get appreciation or an opportunity to hop on the decks for an audience,” Taylor said.
Following Taylor’s set will be Miss Lonely featuring Eden Paterno, a senior in the College of Arts & Sciences and frontwoman of the band. Miss Lonely, along with some solo performances by Paterno, have been featured at multiple MUR events in the past, including Autumn Rhythm.
“I’m feeling so excited for the show. I remember going to the past two spring concerts and seeing artists that I really enjoyed,” Paterno said. “Now, getting to be one of those artists is just so full circle.”
Paterno said that the band will be centering their set around their original songs.
“Hopefully we will be releasing original music soon. It’ll really be a sneak peek at what our first album might look like,” Paterno said. “Since we will be down a drummer and guitarist, the set will also be more laid-back with an acoustic sound which gives us an opportunity to have some real fun.”
After Miss Lonely, winners of Radio Roulette, The Taxmen, will take the stage. The indie-rock based band originally started their career after the band’s mutual love and appreciation for the Beatles, which led them to start covering some of their songs. Since then, they have released original projects and performed at various local venues.
Headlining the show is another Marquette band, Jande and this will be their first time performing at an MUR event.
Jande is made up of lead vocalist, Max Creager-Roberts, Junior in the College of Arts & Sciences, drummer Tobin Harrison, Junior in the College of Communication, guitarist Emily Schmit, Senior in the College of Nursing, lead guitarist Blake Degar, Junior in the College of Engineering and bassist Tim Schmit, Sophomore in the College of Engineering.
“Performing as a band that goes here is really fun, we love getting to play for our friends which takes a lot of pressure off our performance and lets us have more fun with it, Creager-Roberts said. “Also crowd work is way easier.”
The band’s sound aligns mostly with the indie/rock genre and will be performing cover songs at the show.
“You’ll only be hearing covers, we haven’t really had time to create our own music because of our schedules, but we’re planning on trying to make some of our own music over the summer,” Emily Schmit said.
This concert is free, and students can start gathering at 6:00 p.m. — with music starting at 6:30 p.m.
This story was written by Sofía Cortés. She can be reached at sofia.cortes@marquette.edu.
