At the base of the Staller Center steps, five artists prepared to perform for a crowd awaiting the sweet sensations of live music to fill their ears. This is The Bash — the second installment of the freeform outdoor music festival hosted by Stony Brook University’s radio station WUSB.
The crowd pushed towards the stage. Fingers were pointed. Lyrics were yelled, and as a heavy metal drummer played us out, I was struck with the impression that the night was a special one.
“Sometimes it feels like events at Stony Brook are forced, but this did not feel that way at all,” rising senior Clare Dana said. “The Bash felt like the most student-led event I’ve been to; it felt like the people who put it together really cared about it and I think that’s what made it so successful.”
Perhaps one of Stony Brook’s most highly anticipated events of the spring semester, Brookfest finally made its return. Rapper Young M.A and R&B artist Capella Grey performed to a sold-out crowd before headliner Gunna took the stage for the first Brookfest in two years.
Time seemed to slow in that church. The music filled every crevice in my brain, bouncing off the ceiling into my ears. I tapped my foot and bobbed my head, entranced by the emotion emitted from every movement, word and facial expression.
On March 17, Underoath played a sold-out show at Brooklyn Steel in Williamsburg along with bands Stray from the Path, Bad Omens and Spiritbox. It was a great experience for my first metal show with an energetic crowd, tons of moshing and enough cathartic energy to help me finish this semester.
Everything from his beginnings — Goblin and Wolf — to CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST had a moment in the sun that night. Every iteration of being a Tyler, The Creator fan was on full display.
On March 10, I experienced the four-hour, sold-out, sixth annual Love Rocks NYC! show in the grandeur of New York City’s Beacon Theatre. Yet my perspective was far different from the rest of the audience. I studied the musicians, yes, but from their backs. As I hunched from my post as drum tech, securely hidden behind the kit and the congas, my eyes darted from the musicians I was working for to the faces of nearly 3,000 radiant music fans.
Long Islander Danny Gonzalez, 21, returned from the Astroworld Festival in Houston with flashbacks of the deadly concert, including personally witnessing the lifeless body of at least one fellow concertgoer.