'Demfest' is Demarest Hall's biggest hit yet
Last Friday, Demarest Hall hosted its third annual "Demfest," a music festival hosted in the heart of the College Avenue Campus. While entry to the event was free, by purchasing food, merchandise or entering the raffle, attendees were able to support New Brunswick Tomorrow, a local charity organization.
The festival housed a welcoming atmosphere, with New Brunswick residents and Rutgers students uniting to support an important cause and nine incredible acts.
When the band Oblivious began to play, they performed an energetic array of rock songs, with some stellar drumming and solid guitar work. In particular, the vocalist's loud and emotional performance helped set the stage for future acts.
Other musicians followed suit with similar instrumentation, but what separated each of them was how diverse and eclectic some of their production choices ended up being. In many ways, the artists performing bent and broke typical combinations.
The sheer variety of sounds at play created a very lush sonic palette for the eager fans to consume and hopefully further engage with.
As a whole, the show's bands highlighted the sheer amount of local talent across New Brunswick while also demonstrating how inventive these young musicians could be. In terms of variety, the show featured a decent amount of genres with some rock acts, some funk music and some bass-heavy hip-hop.
The artists also clearly enjoyed interacting with the patrons, as they would engage with them through crowd chants and mini Q&A sessions. One highlight during Zoloft Zombie's show was when the audience was asked whether they preferred forks or spoons and how passionate they got over such an innocuous question.
At this point, the smattering of people outside of Demarest Hall slowly began to grow into a crowd. Most chose to corral near the stage while others roamed between the vendors serving cotton candy and band merchandise.
As dusk settled, the whole vibe of the show shifted and acts only got more eccentric.
When Jack Flowers and The Petal Tones started playing, they performed some peculiar covers, which the crowd ate up. Their performance was fascinating, as it combined live instrumentation with random bursts of autotuned singing — while it sounded cacophonous at times, the passion the band brought balanced everything all out.
During all this, volunteers were walking through the audience, clearly juggling an immense amount of responsibilities but still remaining personable.
The intermissions between the different acts kept up the energy by mixing live instrumental performances with the previously selected playlist, usually corresponding to a similar genre. For example, after Zoloft Zombie's set, similarly abrasive music played.
The closing spectacle by Daddy's Closet, featuring their distinctive, irregular, off-kilter soundscape, felt like the metaphorical "cherry on top" of an amazing day. Their songs combined bright keystrokes with smooth and clear bass work, making for a remarkably enrapturing contrast.
When the event finally concluded, the one thing that became clear was just how much work everyone involved put into making a great show. The residence hall organizers, the vendors and the bands all managed to keep their cool and truly showed how talented the Rutgers community can be.
With three successful shows complete, here's hoping for more "Demfests" in the future.
