The Fall semester of 2024 is wrapping up with holiday cheer, and as many student organizations finish off their last meetings and events, Stockton Music Union is joining the fun and relieving the stress of finals by hosting their annual Winter Concert. Students, parents, and other family members and friends gathered in the Campus Center Theatre on December 6 to hear great familiar tunes of the past in Osprey styles.

Four bands participated in the concert, one of them being a large ensemble band: Coffin Nail Bouquet, Metallica Tribute Band, Midnight Texts, and Groovy Soup. Every band presented a great homage to classic bands from the 70s to the early 2000s. Familiar tunes from Tears for Fears, The Eagles, Paramore, Fall Out Boy, Men At Work, and more were included among the 21 songs on the concert list. The performance began with what seemed to be a very hesitant and awkward start from one of the members of Groovy Soup, who pretended to hesitate at the microphone before starting a beat that brought trumpets and guitars to the stage, approaching from the backstage and the theatre entrances. The start to the concert was a great and jazzy way of catching the audience’s attention.

They were then followed by Coffin Nail Bouquet, who performed songs from Radiohead, Nirvana, and more. Their best-received one was the popular “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” by Tears for Fears, which had the audience waving their arms along to the music thanks to their ever-energetic bass and saxophone player, Noella ‘Thinks We’re Sexy’ Alvarez. They even had a pirate-rock costume theme that matched their style amazingly. Metallica Tribute Band followed with great rock covers from less recognized, but equally talented, indie rock bands like Peach Pit, Hockey Dad, and The Warning.

Midnight Texts followed these two bands, opening with “One of these Nights” by The Eagles, and playing great tunes from other bands that are both popular and less known, like Big Thief, MICO, Paramore, Fall Out Boy, and Derek and the Dominos. The lead singer of Midnight Texts, Rachel Rhodes, charmed the crowd with her performance, shedding her suit jacket and ponytail by the end of the band’s playlist, the band having chosen suits and neckties as their outfit. The last band was an ensemble band of 14 members called Groovy Soup, which opened with a classic tune: “Who Can it Be Now” by Men at Work. It was a solid tribute to the rock of the 80s and an excellent display of how talented the Ospreys are.

Eden Shinseki, the President of SMU and vocalist for Groovy Soup, has been one of the well-known vocalists for the band for years, and is a senior in Psychology with a minor in Art. stated that “the purpose of this club is to get people out here to make music with each other. We have a lot of members who did music in middle and high school, came to college for things other than music, and thought that they would never play music again. This gives them an outlet to have fun and keep playing.” In terms of the concert, Shinseki was satisfied with the turnout of the concert, which yielded about 125 attendees — it was an especially good turnout considering how few students attend events on Friday nights, especially in this freezing cold weather. “My favorite part is hearing everything come together at the end of the semester,” Shinseki said.

Evan Carr, a senior in Graphic Design and drummer for Groovy Soup, was excited and happy with how the concert turned out. “When we do these concerts, it’s for the crowd; we love to bring the energy, and make sure we put on a [great] show,” Carr stated. “But also, I love to go behind the scenes to see all the people in the club enjoying each other’s music. We’re all bopping around back here; supporting each other and having fun.” He added, “Whether or not there were people in the crowd, no matter how many people were here, I love to see how people in the club are supporting each other, because that’s really the best part of the club.”