By Dylan Fink | Sports Writer
Everybody knows someone who’s had a TikTok-inspired glimmer of inspiration and went on to buy an Amazon mixing board to be their fraternity’s next DJ. Nearly everyone has attended a Friday night event where the entertainment was a poorly designed mashup of simple, written songs performed by a sweaty kid jumping up and down behind a laptop.
In an era where everyone wants to be the next John Summit, it’s time for the college rock band to return. Live bands belong and need to make a return at social events.
Our parents went to college in an era when music at a party wasn’t blasted from a laptop through a Bluetooth speaker. College students used to let loose on the weekend to the combined melody of guitars, bass and drums.
“College rock,” according to Rolling Stone magazine, is “exactly what the name implies: smart, fun music perfect for hanging out, ideally on a Friday afternoon in fall just after your last class was over.”
This is what Baylor’s campus needs to return to.
Picture this: it’s a 65-degree Friday evening in October, and your late-afternoon class, which you regret signing up for, has just let out for the weekend. You make your way toward Fountain Mall, remembering that a sorority is hosting its philanthropy event that day.
You pick up the combined sounds of music and people having a great time. As you approach, you realize that the music is not the painful booming of some kid with his turntable, but rather the intertwined melodic anthem of a great time being performed by your local college band.
The weekend has officially begun.
Starting a band used to be every college kid’s dream. To embody what it meant to let loose, be cool and enjoy the best four years of your life to the tune of rock music.
That mentality needs to be revived across campuses everywhere.
When history looks back on music a century from now, people may not remember the John Summits of the world. Instead, they will remember the influence of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, U2 and Oasis.
The college band does not always have to sound the best or be made up of the most talented musicians. The college band, though, will put on a show, play fun music you can sing along to, and at the end of the day, make sure that you have a good time.
Baylor already has a great collection of college bands that you can see perform at various events across campus. From the electrifying alternative rock sound of Woofitz to the more melodic country style of West Texas Wind or the Ethan Lynch Band, talented students are spearheading rock back onto campus.
The next time you’re making weekend plans and thinking of attending an event based around a homemade YouTube trap mix, consider searching out your local college band instead. Go to a show and belt your heart out to a cover of “Drops of Jupiter” with your friends.
I guarantee you won’t regret it.
