The new semester kicked off to a melodic start courtesy of the Aztec Music Group. The student-run organization hosted a free backyard concert on Feb. 3.
Students packed into Mary Lane Drive to hear artists Hannah Geller and Kocean. Even with little advertising, the turnout was overwhelming.
“I think the show was good and the turnout was better than I expected,” said Logan Bishop, a sophomore accounting student and guitar player for Geller. “Everybody showed right as we started playing.”
Geller started off the show with her band, which includes Bishop on guitar, AMG president Zen Yokel on bass and Nick Kusior on the drums. She played mainly originals including her songs “Waves,” “Sublime” and “Heaven.” She also fit in some covers of Tame Impala and Pink Floyd.
“People were a little shy at first,” Bishop said. “They were kind of back in the crowd, but after the first song, we got them to come up and start grooving.”
Once the crowd got comfortable, everyone was dancing and jumping around. A lot of people were also singing along with Geller on her original songs.
“I love to come out and see Hannah perform,” said Kaveh Ghaemi, a sophomore film production major. “I saw her at the battle of the bands before and it was absolutely amazing.”
At the end of Geller’s set, the crowd was chanting for an encore, which resulted in students crowd surfing.
After Geller, Kocean began their set. Kocean includes lead singer and AMG vice president Kaitlyn Thomas, Yokel on bass, Kusior on the drums, and Isaiah Hand on guitar. Once Kocean came on, the crowd really started to get crazy.
“We wanted to have the energy build up throughout the two shows and sort of have that gradual build-up,” Yokel said. “For the hype songs that Hannah played the crowd was bobbing and grooving, and for some of the funkier songs, they were all dancing. For Kocean though, they were just going crazy man.”
Immediately into Kocean’s set, the energy in the backyard was palpable. The crowd became more comfortable, which led to people moshing.
“Once people sort of start to jump and be energetic then it’s sort of like a snowball,” Kusior said. “After they see that it’s okay, then everyone sort of joins in and it’s sort of exponential.”
Kocean played some originals like “Laila” and “Should’ve Known.” They also played a collection of covers including The Neighborhood’s “Sweater Weather,” Joan Jett’s “Bad Reputation” and “BLACKOUT” by Turnstile.
“I think it was amazing and super fun to watch, and I just really enjoyed seeing students express their creativity through their music,” said Grace Huynh, a sophomore psychology student.
Both these bands, while in different genres of music, gave their all on the makeshift stage. The music, performances and the crowd all combined to create an electric atmosphere and a great night for live music.
“If you are interested in either coming to a show, helping put one on, or just wanted to get more into the live music stuff, please come by,” said Yokel. “We’d love to have anyone that’s interested.”
