The weather outside might be frightful, but Fordham students were able to escape the cold this Friday at Fordham Lincoln Center\u2019s Pope Auditorium for the 12th annual Winterfest. Open to both Lincoln Center and Rose Hill students, the concert is a kickoff to the new semester as well as a rare occasion for all Fordham students to interact and enjoy some high-energy music.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Doors opened at 5 p.m., with the music starting around 5:30 p.m. The standby line had already formed by then, with concertgoer Jo Reyna, Fordham College at Rose Hill (FCRH) \u201928, at the front of it. Reyna had encouraged her friends to buy tickets, but had not herself.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey told me if I don\u2019t get tickets, then I\u2019m dead. So I decided to just show up early and secure my ticket,\u201d Reyna said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Reyna ended up waiting to be let into the show for about an hour and a half. The experience was not a total wash, however \u2014 people who had gotten in the standby line early were treated to the sight of the night\u2019s guest act, Between Friends, examining the latest exhibition at the Ildiko Butler Gallery pre-performance.<\/p>\n
Although the music didn\u2019t start until 5:30 p.m., there was still plenty to do for ticketholders, with stations for hair tinsel, tooth gems and a photobooth by the entrance. People slowly trickled in over the course of the first hour, with the line growing until it eventually wrapped around the Lowenstein lobby to the vending machines.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Both opening acts were made up of Fordham students, giving campus talent the chance to perform in front of their peers. Tobias Urban, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) \u201927, kicked things off with an \u201980s-inspired jazz-pop ensemble. The singer was joined onstage by Lucious Crawford, FCLC \u201928, on the saxophone; Minjoo Kim, FCLC \u201927, on the bass; Ethan Lin, FCRH \u201926, on the trumpet; Alex Nam, Gabelli School of Business at Fordham Lincoln Center \u201926, on the guitar; Daniel Kidd, FCLC \u201926, on the drums; and John O\u2019Neill, FCLC \u201926 playing the piano during certain parts of the set. With an upbeat mixture of both original songs and covers in a style reminiscent of Billy Joel and Elton John, Urban got the growing crowd excited. By the time the group played a cover of Maroon 5\u2019s \u201cThis Love,\u201d the crowd was not only much larger but much more energetic, shouting and dancing along to the lyrics.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The second act was Mia Lorelei, FCLC \u201926, who performed with a more bare-bones ensemble consisting of a drummer and bassist. Playing her own guitar in a more subdued performance, Lorelei was no less electrifying, performing a more shoegaze-inspired sound that called to mind performers such as Wisp and Stevie Nicks. Her set provided an opportunity for the crowd to relax into the music before Between Friends came onstage.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The mood was a constant surge of energy, as if to offset the existential anxiety generated by current events.<\/p>\n
After a few brief words from the Winterfest organizer, Mykaylah Moran, FCLC \u201926, the stage was set for Between Friends, an indie-pop sibling duo consisting of Brandon and Savannah Hudson. Despite starting out with a more dreamy sound with their 2019 EP \u201cwe just need some time together,\u201d their latest album embraces a more electronica-inspired sound, leading to an exhilarating show full of flashing lights and mesmerizing choreography. The duo played a mixture of singles off their previous two albums, as well as a couple of old favorites from their debut. Hits like \u201cAffection\u201d and \u201cJam !\u201d had the crowd jumping, giving a high-octane performance that will be hard for future acts to beat.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The mood was a constant surge of energy, as if to offset the existential anxiety generated by current events. Mid-set, Brandon Hudson grabbed the mic and yelled to the crowd, \u201cWe know times are super weird right now, so it means a lot that you guys are able to just be with us,\u201d which captured the spirit of the evening well. The show was about an hour long, just enough time to keep the crowd buzzing until the very end.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was obvious after the show that Between Friends did not disappoint. Despite many students being unfamiliar with the duo before the performance, the Lowenstein lobby was packed with people gushing about their talent and energy when the show ended.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was so fun to put this together and kind of insane that we were able to do all of this and make something this big happen,\u201d Mara Holzen, FCLC \u201928 and opening act coordinator for Winterfest<\/p>\n
\u201cTheir energy were so cool. It wasn\u2019t what I had expected at all. It was very camp. I loved it,\u201d concertgoer Sophia Moran, FCLC \u201928, said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe vibes were good. \u2026 They\u2019re really good performers. It was very entertaining to watch,\u201d fellow attendee Elizabeth Amicone, FCRH \u201928, said.<\/p>\n
The positive feelings were shared by the event organizers, who had been planning the concert since October.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was so fun to put this together and kind of insane that we were able to do all of this and make something this big happen,\u201d opening act coordinator Mara Holzen, FCLC \u201928, said. \u201cIt\u2019s nice to take a breath after all that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Between Friends\u2019 performance provided a welcome reprieve from the bleak cityscape just outside the Lowenstein Center doors. Revitalized by the \u201cJam !\u201d session, students escaped into the night, ready for whatever the weekend might hold.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The weather outside might be frightful, but Fordham students were able to escape the cold this Friday at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":124438,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[54190,128,54191,2538,9,24,63,28101,129,131,130],"class_list":{"0":"post-124437","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-the-bronx","8":"tag-between-friends","9":"tag-bronx","10":"tag-fordham-lc","11":"tag-music","12":"tag-new-york","13":"tag-new-york-city","14":"tag-nyc","15":"tag-performance","16":"tag-the-bronx","17":"tag-the-bronx-headlines","18":"tag-the-bronx-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124437","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=124437"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124437\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/124438"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=124437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=124437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=124437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}