By Jordan Galan
Staff Writer
Packed seats, bright lights and bountiful applause. This describes Kendall Hall when the band Surfaces, with opener Ella Jane, made an appearance on April 4 for an upbeat concert filled with good vibes and energetic music that got students out of their seats.
The event, hosted by College Union Board (CUB), was anticipated by many students as all tickets were sold out well before the concert.
“There were so many people,” said Kylie Downing, a sophomore mathematics major. “The bottom row was full and it was going up to the top too. It was such a good turn out.”
The opening performance, led by Jane, was met with enthusiasm as it was her very first performance in New Jersey. Jane certainly was able to locate some of her fans within the crowd as there were some who stood up and gave her a standing ovation after the very first song.
It wasn’t too long after that the majority of students found their way out of their seats to join her in her lively performance. Jane implored students to join her and fill in some of the lyrics to her song “Calling Card,” but not all of the songs she performed were officially released. Jane treated the audience to a pre-released song in which the crowd erupted in screams and cheers.
“When she did the unreleased song I was very happy,” said Diva Namjou, a senior industrial psychology major. “Artists don’t really do that. I was happy she was one of them.”
Jane made an impression on the Kendall Hall stage, but the main act was still yet to be seen. Surfaces made their presence known with their upbeat energetic music, and a saxophone performance that just made some students more excited to be there.
“He went off,” says Namjou. “I don’t know his name, but he went off. He just went off in there, did his thing and everyone was cheering. They are very good at getting everyone excited. I didn’t know them, but I was very happy that I went.”
Namjou wasn’t the only student who didn’t know who Surfaces was or recognize their songs at first glance. Many students were unfamiliar with Surfaces, but could recall their hit song “Sunday Best,” which made it onto the Billboard Hot 100 in 2020. With that in mind, some students were pleasantly surprised to know more songs than they thought.
“I was surprised about how many songs I did know,” said Erin Parker, a freshmen English and second special education major. “I thought I only knew ‘Sunday Best’ and there were a couple more that I actually knew, so that was cool.”
It wasn’t a surprise, however, that Surfaces ended the night with their popular hit, “Sunday Best,” which the majority of students sang each and every word to. The night officially came to a close as students funneled out of Kendall Hall, but despite it being over, students were happy to have spent the night listening to these artists perform.
“I ended up having such a good time,” said Namjou. “I would recommend to anyone who doesn’t go to the concerts to go to the concerts, regardless of whether or not you know the artist.”
