Students flocked Friday night to a sweltering, dimly-lit basement on Grady Avenue to attend one of the University’s most popular late-night activities — the house show. WXTJ, the University’s student-run radio station, collaborated with student publication V Magazine to host four student bands at a 2000’s-themed show to welcome students back to Charlottesville and kick off the year in retro style.
The intimate setting of a house show, where rooms — and sometimes entire floors — are carved out to be occupied by a stage and audience, supports student band circulation and gives a platform to emerging musicians.
WXTJ typically hosts several house shows per semester, both independently and in collaboration with organizations like V Magazine and University Records, a CIO that organizes concert performances for students.
The four bands that performed on Friday night — Hermosa, Name Game, Loose Champagne and Weekends and Wednesdays — each delivered diverse and electric performances.
The Y2K theme was evident in every corner of the house. The crowd embraced the throwback vibe, donning bandanas, oversized shades, and graphic tees that evoked early 2000s nostalgia. Neon lights cast a vibrant glow across the room, illuminating the beads of sweat forming on foreheads as the temperature rose with each passing minute.
The event steadily grew in noise, volume and attendance as the night went on, stacking quality performances for a memorable night in the University music scene.
Zoe Edelman, co-event director and fourth-year College student, said that while the performers were not chosen based on popularity or skill, they were invited based on a common genre.
“The bands were selected entirely on vibes,” said Edelman. “But we do try to match their genres a bit so the music isn’t all over the place.”
Edelman noted the station usually reaches out to performers, though occasionally student groups will step forward themselves to be featured in a show. She also underscored WXTJ’s attempts to curate a mix-matched lineup of performers from both popular and lesser-known bands to keep audiences on their toes.
Hermosa, a four-person band first formed in 2023, was the first group to take the subterranean stage, rounding up the early-bird stragglers with high volume and liveliness. The group, with a strong sound built from robust guitarwork, battled through broken strings and some technical difficulties, peaking with a rousing rendition of country star Zach Bryan’s “Revival.”
Name Game followed, a larger indie rock-funk fusion band. The band, first formed in 2023, featured a fuller keyboard sound and two vocalists, along with some skilled guitarists of their own. The singers started somewhat shakily, initially appearing a bit tentative with their voices not entirely meshing in the early moments, but quickly found their rhythm, building up confidence as the set progressed with encouragement from the crowd.
While Name Game may have lacked a standout performance, their set evoked just the right energy to ensure the crowd was primed for the remaining two performances.
Loose Champagne, an R&B-funk fusion group founded in 2023, occupied the prime-time slot. As the night progressed, more and more students filled the basement, the house, the yard, even the sidewalk, and the energy rose with the temperature around the stage. The band was the most polished of the night, as well as the only group to explore the realms of smooth, suave artists Bruno Mars and Childish Gambino, thrilling their inherited crowd with tunes such as “Treasure” and “Redbone.”
The group’s real showstopper, however, was their penultimate track — “Murder on the Dancefloor,” a trending singalong hit originally released in 2001 by Sophie Ellis-Bextor. It was less a performance and more a basement-wide karaoke session, with lead vocalist and second year College student Calista Nelson’s voice barely audible over the crowd’s enthusiastic singalong.
Attendees spaced out a bit after Loose Champagne departed — worn from all of the dancing, singing and jumping — but were quickly recalled by the final entertainers Weekends and Wednesdays. On neither a weekend nor a wednesday, the band, featuring two animated singers and sharp, springy guitarists, turned the heat back up.
Amongst thick air and hazy atmosphere, rock band Weekends and Wednesdays summoned the energy to rally up the crowd one last time.
The group, founded in 2022, started hard and maintained a spiked, contagious tempo for the duration of the set, even as the early hours of the morning approached. They embraced a bold rock sound and persona, delighting the ravenous crowd with Wheatus’ 2000 rock anthem “Teenage Dirtbag.” Joy radiated off the performers, each sporting a beaming smile and a classic outfit as they closed out the show in style.
Facilitating such a high-powered show requires no shortage of labor. Event organizers began preparation for the show weeks in advance, while spending grueling hours before and after the show gathering and installing equipment, clearing the venue, purchasing refreshments, and sound-checking all of the performers.
Suffice it to say, it’s a long night for event staff — but totally worth it, according to Edelman who was grateful to have put on a successful event.
“It’s a nice feeling to see something you’ve worked hard on come to life and be enjoyed by others,” Edelman said. “I love the vibes that live music brings, so I’m thrilled to be able to help bring those vibes to the [University] community.”
Students who did not make it to the house show or are eager to see more live music across Grounds can keep an eye out for future events by following the WXTJ instagram, or they can tune into a plethora of content on WXTJ’s radio station and catch the “vibes” on air.
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