The University of Connecticut had an electrifying kickoff to Storrs’ Halloween celebration on Saturday, Oct. 21, with WHUS’s Mischief After Dark concert and costume contest.
“It’s been a lot of effort; it’s a lot of hard work and tears that have all accumulated in this one night,” Sophia Curran, WHUS’s event coordinator and a third-semester management major, said.
The concert featured the performers STATTIC and Dreamer Isioma in the Student Union Ballroom — a long-awaited line-up dating back to WHUS’s Spring Fling concert of last semester.
Spring Fling was canceled at the last minute (through no fault of WHUS’s) as a fire occurred in the Student Union right as the event’s doors opened. This forced WHUS to reschedule the acts, according to Lee McAndrews, a seventh-semester nutritional sciences major and WHUS’s operations manager this year.
“We had to move all the artists, so the next concert we were planning to have was Mischief After Dark, and it bumped the lineup,” McAndrews said. “I was Events Coordinator last year, so [Curran] did a lot of the grunt work for this event, but a lot of the booking was done months ago.”
The doors opened slightly after 5:30 p.m., and as attendees entered, spooky Halloween music blasted through the speakers and clips of ‘Scooby Doo’ played over two projector screens. UConn students did not disappoint with their costumes, including an elaborate jellyfish, spot-on Wednesday Addams and adorable couples and groups costumes including Coraline and Wybie, the Power Puff Girls and Barbie and Ken.
Speaking of the blonde power-duo, STATTIC entered the stage first, dressed in pinks that wonderfully matched the Mattel vibe.
STATTIC, winner of WHUS’s Battle of the Bands in February, is a Connecticut-based, hip-hop, house and dance band that “feels at home” at live shows, according to their website. Their music heavily features improvisation, making every show with them a unique experience.
Their set featured strong saxophone and trumpet performances and ended with a “STATTIC STATTIC STATTIC” chant from the crowd and lead singer Joey Soprano.
As an “intermission” of sorts, WHUS announced their costume contest. While many arrived dressed up, there could only be so many winners — for best group costume, a “One Piece” team won and the aforementioned Coraline and Wybie won best couples costume. For the individual winners, WHUS conducted a vote-by-cheer, resulting in “Nardwuar” winning first place and the prize of a Mischief After Dark poster signed by the performers.
Then came the main event: Dreamer Isioma.
Dreamer Isioma is a singer, songwriter and guitarist from Chicago. They just wrapped up their “F*ck the World” tour for their “Princess Forever” album with multiple sold-out dates and have recently been an opening act for Janelle Monáe.
After their band took the time to set up and a DJ got the crowd’s blood pumping, Dreamer Isioma ran out on stage, dressed as a cheetah complete with ears and a tail and launched into their viral hit, “Sensitive.”
The crowd thoroughly enjoyed the celestial energy and Dreamer Isioma felt the same, asking the crowd, “Wait, do y’all see it? The stars? The planets? We’re floating through outer space right now,” as the set went on.
Dreamer Isioma asked the crowd to push in for their last few songs, jumping and even playing guitar for a bit. As they wrapped up, they thanked the crowd, noting they were “…really feeling the love in the room.” Following an energetic last song, Dreamer Isioma exited the stage and the Student Union Ballroom altogether as their band played them out, marking the end to a successful Mischief After Dark show.
For those that missed the spooktacular Mischief After Dark event, UConn students and community members will get to see WHUS’s concert planning next semester for this year’s Spring Fling, with the added bonus of community input.
“For Spring Fling the process is going to be normal where we take suggestions from the community and we go through the whole selection process of getting the artists,” McAndrews said.
Until then, those in the area can catch the work of UConn’s Sound Alternative online, or tune into 91.7 FM.
