Local, Live Revolution

By Sammi Powers

Last Friday, WXAV played host to local band Empires in the student lounge. This was a huge accomplishment for me because I had a lot of influence over the decision.

When we were trying to pick a band we knew that we wanted local, and we spent days tossing around ideas and trying to figure out about how much it would cost. I’m a fan of Empires from way in the beginning, but for whatever reason they never popped into my head.
The harder we thought about what band to hire, the more outlandish and expensive we got. We moved out of the realm of local and into the realm of pure fantasy. We bandied about names like Coldplay (Pete’s pick), Jack’s Mannequin (my pick), Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (Jeff’s pick). But a little luck pointed us in the right direction.

Empires posted an update on their Facebook page saying they were looking to play small, acoustic college shows in the fall to supplement their tour of larger venues. This smidge of divine intervention made us all smile.

As with so many events, Empires was a little hard to set up. We had to get promotion done, and all the little details took us up until the week before to settle. So we were scrambling last minute with posters, on-air promos and a preview in The Xavierite. There wasn’t much, if any, stress about this, though, because we knew we could get the word out.
We knew from experience; from last year when we got word just days before that we could have We Are Scientists play the student lounge. With We Are Scientists we frantically notified people, recruited our friends and their clubs, and put posters on almost every flat surface that people might look at.

When Oct. 30 rolled around, we were set. Empires was on their way and we even had an opening act. I was thrilled to pieces because we arranged for Joe Rendaro, an SXU student, to open for the band.

I think that it’s very important for campus organizations to support and showcase the talent that’s so apparent on campus. For WXAV to essentially endorse Joe made me very happy; after all, WXAV is by the students for the students.

Around 55 people showed up for Joe’s set and Empires’ set. Empires’ singer Shawn had laryngitis, so the show became a sing along.

“This is kind of like a campfire setting; we’ve never done anything like this before and it’s really cool,” Shawn said at one point. And I agree that it’ very cool. I love the intimacy of such a small show and student support allows us to do more of them.
So keeps your ears open for future shows sponsored by WXAV, but until then go ahead and check out the redesigned WXAV website.

Sammi Powers is a junior communications major from Romeoville. She is Peer Minister for Liturgical Ministry, deputy Viewpoints editor for The Xavierite and program director for WXAV 88.3 FM. Consideration for the student bloggers is provided by Saint Xavier University.