The Journal acknowledges that a staff member is affiliated with one of the bands mentioned but wasn’t involved in reporting or writing this story to maintain ethical journalistic standards.
MUSE’s mini desk concert puts student talent on centre stage.
The magazine’s ninth concert took place on Jan. 22 at The Merchant Tap House, a change from their usual venue of The Mansion. Inspired by National Public Radio (NPR)’s Tiny Desk concerts, the evening featured student artists spanning a variety of sounds and styles. Popular student bands Sleep On The Couch, Duck Pond, and Dutchbaby performed at the event.
The change in venue comes after technical disasters at the previous Mini Desk. “It was just a cool idea to try somewhere else,” said MUSE’s Head of music, Kate Bassett, ArtSci ’27, in an interview with The Journal. “We really value our relationship with The Mansion and love working with them; we wanted to give our bands the best experience possible,” said Editor–in-Chief of MUSE, Sydney Toby, ArtSci ’26, in an interview with The Journal.
Bassett selected each band for their distinct sound; from Dutchbaby’s “70’s, Woodstock” sound to Duck Pond’s more indie and alternative sound, and Sleep On The Couch’s soft-rock leaning sound; the set list had something for everyone.
“The Kingston music scene’s blossoming right now, and there’s so many Queen’s bands that I wanted to highlight as many as we could; I think by getting people [to play] for MUSE, [we platform] Queen’s bands,” Bassett said.
Sleep On The Couch opened the night at 9:30 p.m., with covers of songs like the pop-punk Stacy’s Mom (2003) by Fountains of Wayne, the alt-rock Don’t Speak (1995) by No Doubt and the soft-rock You’re so Vain (1972) by Carly Simon, starting the night off with a wide range of genres. The band, consisting of Keye Sun, Richie Williams, Henry Gallant, Mateo Rendon, all Sci ’27, andKathleen Pogacar, HealthSci ’27, told The Journal in an interview that the highlight of their performance was having a different crowd that usually isn’t in attendance at their regular shows. “We’re thankful for the chance to have played in front of more people and to introduce ourselves to another crowd of super cool people,” the band said.
Next up was Duck Pond, beginning their set around 10:30 p.m.,composed of Lee Sadja, Sofia Leach, Megan Schierau, Michael Ambra, all ArtSci ’26, as well as Sam Alexander, MASc ’26, and Marcus Tantakoun, Compsci ’24. The crowd went wild during their mashups, transitioning seamlessly from songs like Time Moves Slow (2016) by BADBADNOTGOOD into Cool Cat (1982) by Queen.
In order to determine their setlist, Duck Pond explained in an interview with The Journal their more-or-less unorthodox way of determining which songs would make it and which wouldn’t. “We had a brainstorming [session] in one of our practices where everybody shouted out potential options. When there was a song we agreed on, it got added,” the band said.
Headlining the night at approximately 11:30 p.m., was funk group Dutchbaby, made up of Rachel Heaney and Marijka Vernooy, both ArtSci ’26, Sam Shaffer, ArtSci ’27, and Riley Fitzgerald and Aidan Bellai—both who don’t attend Queen’s. The band played both covers and originals, debuting their new single Don’t Pass Me By.
“The highlight [of our performance] was definitely playing Deceptacon by Le Tigre. Very much a girl punk song that is out of our usual taste, so it was exciting,” leader singer, Heaney said in an interview with The Journal. “I’d hope that the audience came out of our set tired from dancing; I love when people get really into it and dance pretty crazily to live music. I do it a lot on stage but it’s nice to see when that translates to the crowd.”
Despite a change in location and a lower slate of performers, MUSE’s ninth Mini-Desk concert surely lived up to its historical hype, remaining a staple in Queen’s musical calendar that platforms student talent.
Tags
Concert, MUSE, MUSE Mini Desk, Music, Student bands
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