A spectrum of rock music pulsed across Cal State Fullerton\u2019s Becker Amphitheater on Thursday, transforming it into a subculture scene for students to step away from assignments for the night and recharge with live music and a lively atmosphere ahead of finals.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Red Bull and rock music mixed at Titan Radio\u2019s biannual No Stress Fest, this time outdoors and underneath the last full moon of the year,\u00a0 welcoming the punk and alternative scene to campus.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEven if you\u2019re not really a part of the scene, or this is your first few times, it\u2019s a really good way to express yourself,\u201d said Toby Dennis, a participating cameraman. \u201cThis has always been a place where everyone\u2019s been able to be themselves.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
A total of four bands took center stage: The Hart, Integra Pink, NoiseGate and Pulse. Throughout the night, each one brought its unique blend of driving rhythms to promote self-expression and community.<\/p>\n
The rhythmic guitar strums and aggressive drumming heard from afar were hard to ignore and lured people passing by to sit in and observe, even enticing a few students to jump into the crowd and dump their pent-up emotions onto the dancefloor.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI was going to a different thing,\u201d said Flynn Vickrey, a fourth-year studio arts major. \u201cBut I\u2019m glad I stumbled upon it because it\u2019s something for me to do instead of going home and watching TV.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The long-running event has gained traction over the years, shifting this time from indie pop to a plethora of rock music for students to immerse themselves in. Emily Lopez, Titan Radio\u2019s general manager, mentioned that this change was strategic.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re trying to make sure that we\u2019re in tune with our audience and what\u2019s really popular,\u201d Lopez said. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to alter it but also gain our numbers, gain our followers and support.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
This decision to cater to such a large student body with diverse music tastes paid off by exposing more students to the underground scene of rock music.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s great for students to dive into different genres,\u201d said Martin Guevara, a fourth-year international studies major. \u201cIt\u2019s a great way for them to come together and still socialize before this stressful week.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The debate over music’s positive influence on students\u2019 mental health was indisputable, with several students experiencing firsthand the connections that come from listening to live performances.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLive music feels like you\u2019re more in a moment rather than just plugging your headphones in,” said Sean Porto, a fourth-year psychology major. \u201cWhen you get to see how it\u2019s happening, it creates a different sensation that music from your phone just can\u2019t really convey.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Even the artists recognized the audience\u2019s collective energy in response to the performances, which only further amplified the lively atmosphere and worked as a mutual exchange.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In between performances, attendees check out local clothing and jewelry vendors. (Jenny Guzman \/ Daily Titan)<\/p>\n
\u201cCollege kids throw down the f\u2014ing hardest,\u201d said Eric Blay, NoiseGate\u2019s guitarist. \u201cSo without them, we can\u2019t have the hard bits we do.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The show’s set list wasn\u2019t the only thing helping students unwind. Titan Radio thought ahead and delivered free Red Bulls to guests and invited small businesses to set up shop, providing students with much-needed sweet treats and retail therapy on the outskirts of the stage.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI respect the fact that they do this every semester,\u201d said jewelry vendor Zoee Beaver, the owner of Boeebeads. \u201cThat first band (The Hart) was actually really good; it\u2019s hard to make a two-piece sound full and they did a really good job.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The crowd’s raw energy powered the show, evident in spontaneous circle pits and chants throughout the night before students checked out when the countdown to finals week resumed.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A spectrum of rock music pulsed across Cal State Fullerton\u2019s Becker Amphitheater on Thursday, transforming it into a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":86410,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[30377,163,165,164,11416,16547,330,29484],"class_list":["post-86409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-alternative","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news","tag-band","tag-live","tag-music","tag-punk"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86409","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86409"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86409\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}