Bands come together for BeatStreet event

BeatStreet, the biggest event of Arts Week Everywhere, kicked off at 5 p.m. Thursday, and music traveled through Dunn Meadow.

“All right, all you music lovers out there,” IU sophomore and event stage manager Charlie Wood announced into the microphone. “Time to get this show on the road. Give it up for Regal Rhythms.”

Applause greeted the performers on stage as people in the mingling crowd paused to listen.

“BeatStreet is our project for the music class we’re taking with Monika Herzig,” Wood said. “It has taken us all semester to get it together, and we’re happy with the way everything turned out.”

The IU Jacobs School of Music and bands such as Elephant Quiz, the Main Squeeze, Marshall Robbins and the Phunk Nasty’s and 800 lb. Gorilla continued to play all
evening.

“BeatStreet is presented by the Music Industry I class that I teach,” said School of Public and Environmental Affairs Arts Administrator Monika Herzig. “We created the concept at the beginning of the semester, put in a proposal to Arts Week and got accepted as a spotlight event. Since then the students have been assigned to committees in preparation. We’ve been planning this throughout the semester, and now it has finally arrived.”

Wood and his co-stage manager Pat Brown, also a sophomore at IU, stood in the crowd along with numerous other curious spectators as bands took the stage one by one.

“I heard about this event through Facebook,” senior Kristen Hoyles said. “It was such a beautiful day out that I decided to come chill for a bit and listen to music. The bands are really good, and I’m happy that it ended up being held on such a
nice day.”

As the evening progressed, the crowd grew in number. Various spectators painted on the nearby art wall, sponsored by the Trained Eye Arts Center, as they listened to
the music.

“I definitely love Elephant Quiz,” sophomore Jen Sampson said. “They did absolutely great.”

When 800 lb. Gorilla went onstage, drummer Michael Malospiriti broke his drumstick and chucked it into the grass at the front of the stage.

Peter Gerard, a sophomore in Herzig’s class, ran up and grabbed the stick, holding it up in triumph.

“This whole gig started out as a contest between classes,” Gerard said. “Our class came up with the best idea for Arts Week, so we were given a $2,500 grant to put together the performance. By putting on this show, we are trying to expose not only musical artists but art in general.”

Hungry students that showed up to the performance were not disappointed. Public school music programs sold pizza and water.

As Marshall Robbins and the Phunk Nasty’s took the stage, attendees formed a mosh pit in front of them. Moving and dancing helped keep students warm as the cool night breeze blew through Dunn Meadow.

Two guests showed up alongside Marshall Robbins and the Phunk Nasty’s at the end of their performance. Owning the stage, Brice Fox and Daniel Weber sang “This is Indiana” as excited students jumped and sang along in the pit.

The final band that performed was the Main Squeeze, and it was one of the most popular performances of the evening.

Winning this year’s Rolling Stone and Volkswagen hosted Fan Tailgate Contest, the Bloomington-based band played live at a Superbowl tailgate and at The Crane Bay Event Center in Indianapolis, opening for music icons the Roots and Jane’s Addiction.

“Everything went very well,” Herzig said. “My students really did a good job of pulling everything together. Though we made mistakes, we learned from them and moved on.”