Email after email has hit all of our inboxes for the first month on campus, and I bet the majority of those emails have been swept to the trash or glanced over and left unread. Coming from a high school where email was not used to the extent it is on the Hill, I found the countless number of messages exciting yet overwhelming.
Now and then we have all seen subject lines about concerts around campus, such as “A CAPPELLA CONCERT TONIGHT!!!!” or “DAYGLOW!!! TODAY!!!” but I think even the all-caps subject line does not garner campus attention the way the sender hoped it would. However, I was certainly intrigued by these events, and I wanted to check out what Hamilton’s music events were all about during my first month on the Hill.
Two weekends ago, Fallcoming and Family Weekend brought with it the annual a cappella concert. While attendance at this event was certainly affected by the masses of parents coming to see their children perform and alumni of these groups returning to campus, I was still surprised at the turn out. Friends and family of the singers filled the Chapel to the extent that I was squished at the end of a row after walking in just a few minutes late. Even the second floor of the chapel was filled, as everyone from all walks of campus seemed to be in attendance to cheer on and support their friends.
At my high school, many of the music events were not advertised like they are here; nor was information about them sent out to the entire school. Attendance suffered. However, here on the Hill, I was pleasantly surprised by how many people went out of their way to see the incredible talent of Hamilton’s a cappella groups.
There were five groups that performed: Tumbling After, Duelly Noted, The Hamiltones, Special K, and The Buffers. The chapel continued to fill up throughout the show on both Friday and Saturday night. I expected Saturday night to be less crowded, but Hamilton students, once again, came out to support their friends and peers. I was blown away by the insane voices of my classmates. Although they must have only rehearsed for a few weeks, I could see (and hear) why so many other students and faculty wanted to be at this event.
The following week, the Campus Activities Board (CAB) advertised for a concert featuring Dayglow, a band from Austin, Texas, who were to perform in the Events Barn. The attendance for this event was not as high as it was for the a cappella concerts, but every table there was still filled. CAB also provided cookies, drinks, and stress balls, which may have enticed more students to show up. The performance was impressive, and everyone enjoyed themselves; people danced and hung out with friends. As the concert moved towards its end, some people trickled out, but the majority of people remained on the dance floor, singing and dancing along with Dayglow.
Even though these may have only been my first few music events at Hamilton, I highly recommend everyone checks at least some of these concerts out and sees the talented student body we have. There should be no concern that you will be one of the few people in attendance — as I noticed that at all these events, a large number of students come out to cheer on their friends and just enjoy the music.
