{"id":128142,"date":"2019-10-23T11:32:39","date_gmt":"2019-10-23T15:32:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/?p=128142"},"modified":"2023-11-21T10:04:17","modified_gmt":"2023-11-21T15:04:17","slug":"bates-at-night-vcs-student-showcase","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/2019\/10\/23\/bates-at-night-vcs-student-showcase\/","title":{"rendered":"Bates at Night: Student acts shine at Village Club Series showcase"},"content":{"rendered":"

At 8:30 p.m. on a recent Thursday in the Benjamin Mays Center, there\u2019s a calm before the concert. Only a few tables are occupied. People trickle in, grab some chai and cookies, and talk with friends.<\/span><\/p>\n

By 8:55, the center is packed. Students crowd around the tables, cluster on the steps near the back, and sit on the window sills lining the curved walls of the building. Tabletops are crowded with mugs and stickered water bottles, and even a textbook or two.<\/span><\/p>\n

They’ve come for a special edition of the Village Club Series, a weekly performance of music, poetry, or comedy sponsored by the Campus Life Office.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"It's<\/a>

It’s standing room only for the Village Club Series Student Showcase on Oct. 10. (Theophil Syslo\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>\n

A staple of campus entertainment since 1993 (before any of today’s students were born), the VCS usually features outside performers. This week, however, is the once-a-semester Student Showcase edition \u2014 an all-student lineup that draws performers\u2019 friends from the library and labs and into the Ben Mays Center\u2019s welcoming interior.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThese are one of my favorite shows,\u201d says audience member Ella Westerfield \u201920 of Denver. She sits with friends who\u2019ve come to see their fellow members of TakeNote, a campus <\/span>a cappella<\/span><\/i> group, perform in a band.<\/span><\/p>\n

Alongside students who\u2019ve come to see friends are VCS regulars who come every week. Kaylah Johnson \u201921 and Keirston Johnson \u201921, twin sisters from Tampa, Fla., frequent VCS for a weekly Thursday-night study break.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Alex<\/a>

Alex Platt ’22 of Groton, Mass., plays guitar with the band Exit 80. (Theophil Syslo\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>\n

How does the showcase compare to an ordinary Thursday night performance? \u201cIt\u2019s nice to see the talent on campus. I see a whole lot of people who I didn\u2019t know played an instrument or read poetry,\u201d Keirston says.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just students who gather to see their friends perform. At a table near the stage are economics professors Lynne Lewis, Julieta Yung, and Luke Chicoine. They’re here to see for the first time one of their students, Maddie Sirois \u201921, play in her band.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re here to see the rock-star side of her,\u201d says Lewis.<\/span><\/p>\n

While most people show up 10 or so minutes before showtime, several students have been working since around 5:30 to set everything up and make sure all the performances run smoothly.<\/span><\/p>\n

VCS crew member Cyan Hunte \u201922 of Brooklyn, N.Y., helps out before each show, setting up equipment, preparing the space near the stage that serves as a green room, and making the bands comfortable before their performances. \u201cThe Student Showcase is a little more work for us,\u201d Hunt says.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Anthony<\/a>

Anthony Anzora \u201920 of Oakland, Calif., leans into the mic during a set that included \u201cFools\u201d by Troy Sivan and \u201cLovely\u201d by Billie Eilish. (Theophil Syslo\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>\n

Erick Ramos \u201922 of San Diego, one of two VCS student managers along with Lillian Chang \u201920 of Wilton, Conn., agrees. \u201cIt\u2019s basically a continuous sound check,\u201d he says. Setting up equipment and getting a good balance of sound for a show, especially with multiple acts, can stretch on for hours and keep the VCS crew working until mere minutes before showtime.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

The night\u2019s lineup, a mix of first-time performers and returning acts, opens with Exit 80, which takes its name from the turnpike exit that the band members take to get to Bates. A freshly formed cover group, it features singer Esme Goldfinger \u201921 of Portland, Maine, drummer Daniel Tepler \u201921 of Bridgeport, Conn., guitarist Alex Platt \u201920 of Groton, Mass., and the econ professors’ favorite, bassist Sirois of Maplewood, N.J.<\/span><\/p>\n

At first, says Sirois, \u201cwe were really nervous. But then we kinda got into our rhythm.” She’s wanted to perform since her first year at Bates, and the showcase is her campus debut. Her bandmates, after talking over the summer, decided to get together this semester and have a go at being a cover band.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNext stop is original music,\u201d says Sirois.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Brady<\/a>

Brady Chilson \u201923 of Carlisle, Mass., makes his musical Bates debut at the showcase. (Theophil Syslo\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>\n

The second act is Robyn Moss \u201920 of White Plains, N.Y., who sings and plays guitar to cheers from the crowd. Moss, who is on the board of college radio station WRBC, is no stranger to the VCS student showcase, having performed multiple times.<\/span><\/p>\n

A new face emerges as the third act. Brady Chilson \u201923 of Carlisle, Mass., sings and plays the keyboard for his first Bates performance. His renditions of \u201cYour Song\u201d by Elton John and \u201cNew York State of Mind\u201d by Billy Joel draw applause, making his debut an undeniable success.<\/span><\/p>\n

In a break from music, Justice Geddes \u201920, does a standup routine centering on his queer identity and growing up in Bozeman, Mont. A VCS veteran, Geddes almost instantly draws laughs.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0Anthony Anzora \u201920 of Oakland, Calif., follows Geddes with another round of covers, singing \u201cFools\u201d by Troy Sivan and \u201cLovely\u201d by Billie Eilish.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Justice<\/a>

Justice Geddes \u201820 of Bozeman, Mont., is a regular Village Club Series performer. (Theophil Syslo\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>\n

The night\u2019s sixth and final act is the all-senior band Shoes on the Rug.<\/span><\/p>\n

Named for one member’s former roommate who insisted on a \u201cno shoes on the rug” rule in their dorm room, the band features Becca Kraft of Newton Center, Mass., on vocals and guitar; Ben Skiest of Longmeadow, Mass., on keyboard; David Maffly-Kip of St. Louis on guitar; Will Weeks \u201820 of Portland, Maine on vocals and bass guitar; Drew Collins \u201820 of Piedmont, Calif. on guitar, Julien Cook \u201820 of Beersel, Belgium on drums, and Tanner Stallbaumer \u201820 of New York City on bass guitar.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Shoes step out to cheers and shouts of \u201cWhere\u2019s the rug?\u201d and \u201cTake your socks off!\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The band is well-seasoned, having played their first set their sophomore year, and the confidence shows. \u201cWe\u2019re gonna start off with a song we put together two hours ago,\u201d says Kraft.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After several songs, the band closes the night with an upbeat \u201cValerie\u201d by Amy Winehouse.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Surrounded<\/a>

Surrounded by Shoes on the Rug bandmates, Becca Kraft of Newton Center, Mass., responds to the audience toward the end of the Village Club Series showcase. (Theophil Syslo\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cIt went even better than we thought it would,\u201d says Kraft afterward. \u201cWe sounded so much better than we did sophomore year.”<\/span><\/p>\n

The performing done, the showcase ends as it began \u2014 quietly, with friends congregating around the room, congratulating their performing peers, and lining up for final cups of chai.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Village Club Series Student Showcase draws an SRO crowd, including three professors hoping to see “the rock-star side” of one of their students.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":148,"featured_media":128156,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_hide_ai_chatbot":false,"_ai_chatbot_style":"","associated_faculty":[],"_Page_Specific_Css":"","_bates_restrict_mod":false,"_table_of_contents_display":false,"_table_of_contents_location":"","_table_of_contents_disableSticky":false,"_is_featured":false,"footnotes":"","_bates_seo_meta_description":"","_bates_seo_block_robots":false,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_id":0,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_twitter_id":0,"_bates_seo_share_title":"","_bates_seo_canonical_overwrite":"","_bates_seo_twitter_template":""},"categories":[11010,133,11012],"tags":[11217],"class_list":["post-128142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts","category-creativity","category-student-life","tag-bates-at-night"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/148"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=128142"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128142\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":128347,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128142\/revisions\/128347"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/128156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}