One member of The Journal’s editorial board holds a position on MUSE and another member is affiliated with one of the bands mentioned. They were not involved in the editing and reporting process of this story.
MUSE’s Mini Desk transformed a quiet Tuesday night into an eruption of diverse music, from soft-rock to hardcore emo hits.
Hosting their 9th bi-annual Mini Desk concert, MUSE Magazine’s fall event took place at The Merchant on Oct. 6. Starting at 8:00 p.m. and ending at 11:30 p.m. The concert featured three different performances — a solo act by acoustic guitarist Jono Yang, alternative cover band Strikethrough, and a headlining set by student favourite, Dutchbaby.
The night opened with a performance by Yang, Kin ’29. A solo acoustic guitar player, he covered different folk and country songs, including “Stone” by Whiskey Myers and “Something in the Orange” by Zach Bryan. He also covered Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing in the Dark,” which he told The Journal was “fun because everyone knows it.”
He also played an unnamed original. “[The song] is about a girl — of course,” Yang laughed.
Yang only started playing guitar two years ago. He applied for last year’s Mini Desk, but didn’t get it. “They didn’t take me and I’m glad. I probably would’ve done a shit job, but this year, I’m definitely a lot better,” Yang said.
Mini Desk was his first time playing publicly outside of open mics.
Yang noted that while he enjoyed the experience, it’s especially difficult to perform as a solo artist. “[MUSE] told me they don’t really get solo acts, so I’m glad to have been chosen, I think it’s a lot harder to be a solo act, because I’m by myself and have to do a lot more to get the crowd going,” he said.
At around 9:30 p.m., the next performance was Strikethrough, an emo, alternative rock band, who got the 60-person crowd going right away with an electric performance of Weezer’s “Say It Ain’t So.” The student band consists of Klara Mills, ArtSci ’29, Ryan Yu, ArtSci ’29, Landon Woods, Comm ’29, Keaton Crackower, ArtSci ’29, and Aiden Ormesher, ArtSci ’29.
The band is still getting their start, having only played a show at Arts and Science Undergraduate Societies Daffodil Day, last year’s Battle of the Bands at Clark Hall, and a backyard house party. However, it’s impossible to tell their freshness to the scene.
They performed so well together as a band with Mills absolutely rocking some classics from Arctic Monkeys’ “When the Sun Goes Down,” Pierce the Veil’s “Circles,” All Time Low’s “Dear Maria, Count Me In,” and Fountains of Wayne’s “Stacy’s Mom.”
“Alt rock is the kind of music you can’t ignore. It’s very loud and very punchy,” Woods said in an interview with The Journal.
After Woods, Yu, and Ormesher ended up staying on West Campus during each of their first-year, the three of them became friends and bonded over their shared passion for music.
Afterwards, Crackower met Yu in the “Vic Pit,” the term for the large gathering of first-year students who stand outside Victoria Hall on the weekends.
“I was wearing a Tool shirt at Vic Pit and this guy Ryan appreciated the band, so we started talking, and then he saw that I played the guitar from my Instagram, and he messaged me, ‘Hey, you want to be in a band?’” Crackower told The Journal.
Similarly, Mills also met Yu in the Vic Pit, and they connected later on Instagram, making Mills the face and voice of Strikethrough.
“Vic Pit’s lame, but I mean it worked,” Mills joked in an interview with The Journal.
Finally, Dutchbaby, the headlining act and most-established performers, took the stage at 10:30 p.m., opting to open with a softer, haunting choice of Fleetwood Mac’s “Rhiannon.”
The four-person band played for about an hour. The crowd had diminished quite a bit at that point, making their set quite intimate.
Dutchbaby’s new lead singer, Sara Lucia, ArtSci ’27, has a strong voice fit for their mix of originals and covers. Some highlights included a lively cover of The Band’s “The Weight” and the band’s original, “Call Me in the Morning.”
Mini Desk’s successful night ended at 11:30 p.m. and has helped two upcoming student acts, Strikethrough and Jono Yang, to find their footing on the stage — a place they’ll likely be more often in the years to come.
Tags
Concert, MUSE Mini Desk, The Merchant
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