WHUS Radio, the University of Connecticut’s student-run radio station, hosted its annual Mischief After Dark concert on Saturday, Nov. 2, treating students and attendees to a night of shoegaze-infused indie rock at the Student Union Ballroom.
The annual show features up-and-coming artists in an up-close and intimate setting, and also provides an opportunity for students to see live music for free right on campus. Last year’s show featured Dreamer Isioma and Stattic for an R&B focused show. For this year’s show, the goal was to “go back to our indie, alternative rock style,” according to Sire Lawrence-Brock, the events coordinator at WHUS.
“As UConn’s sound alternative, we have a tendency to push more towards an indie or alternative sound in general,” Lawrence-Brock said. “So this year, we reached out to different booking agencies to see who fit that genre.”
When doors for the show opened at 5 p.m., students began streaming in. Many showed up in costumes of their favorite fictional characters and musicians, which include costumes of Napoleon Dynamite, characters Stan and Cartman from “South Park” and Bob Dylan. As attendees waited, anticipation grew for the two acts to come.
First up on the bill was Joyer, a four-piece slowcore and shoegaze band based in Boston and New York City. The group came on stage dressed as the Men in Black in black suits and sunglasses, though they initially insisted to the crowd “we’re not in costume.”
The band’s set consisted largely of songs with midtempo grooves and basic chord structures. But the sound that came from the four-piece was rich and full, largely thanks to the guitar weaving of their two guitarists, Nick and Shane Sullivan. The Sullivan brothers strummed layers of guitar chords and alternated adding in lead guitar lines that shined through the dense wall of sound they created.
Aiding the guitars was a rock-solid rhythm section that added energy to the music, but did not overpower anything. The crowd swayed along as they took in the rhythms and soundscapes emanating from the stage. As the set went on, the band pushed their tempos faster and their dynamics higher, bringing their set to an energetic finish as the crowd applauded for more.
During the set break, members of WHUS’ staff took the stage to announce the winners of the costume contest. In first place was a wizard, second place a couple dressed as Shrek and Fiona from “Shrek” and in third place was a plague doctor.
After a prolonged intermission, Feeble Little Horse took the stage as the second and final act of the night. The four-piece indie rock and noise pop group from Pittsburgh started with a live fade-in effect of soft guitar chords and light drumming before cutting through the sound with thick, distorted guitar. This contrast between heavy and light was the dominating feature of the group’s set. The band effortlessly flowed between soft atmospheric sections and moments of metal-esque heaviness. The set also featured songs that had heavy arrangements with softer vocals by singer and bassist Lydia Slocum that floated over the music.
What made Feeble Little Horse’s set stand out was the amount of variation. Each song featured a variety of tempos and dynamics. The contrast kept the crowd engaged, as an increasingly large group at the front of the stage jumped, moshed and two-stepped during the faster numbers of the set. The crowd especially enjoyed when songs would start slow and then immediately crank up the tempo, with the crowd matching the energy of the band in the process. The energy carried through to the final song of the night, “down,” which featured the largest mosh pit of the night as the band closed out the show in a frenzied fashion and ended the evening on a high note.