The Army, The Navy headlines WERW Radio’s biannual launch party
The Army, The Navy, a folk-pop-indie group, headlined WERW Radio's Fall Launch Party. The band played a mix of released and unreleased songs. Dana Kim | Staff Photographer
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Colorful lights beamed across the floor as students lined up in Schine Underground, ready for a night of music and thrifting. The atmosphere buzzed with energy for the upcoming performances.
“It’s very chill,” Emma Novy, a Syracuse University senior, said. “There’s usually a lot of really great music to discover, which is really great. And there (are) student orgs from all different kinds of areas, so you can really meet different kinds of creative people. It’s a lot of fun.”
WERW, or “what everyone really wants,” hosted its biannual launch party and fundraiser on Saturday night, bringing in musicians, thrift vendors and other student organizations to raise money to support the student-run radio station.
The concert celebrates a new semester of the radio station’s content. Students could attend the event and concert for a $5 fee.
The Army, The Navy, a folk-pop-indie group, headlined the event. The duo typically just consists of Maia Ciambriello and Sasha Goldberg, but they also brought in another guitarist for the performance.
The band played released hits like “Persimmon,” “Vienna (In Memoriam)” and “Alexandra,” but also surprised the audience with performances of unreleased songs, encouraging them to sing and clap along to pump up the crowd. Junior Haiden Nourse said she was most excited for The Army, The Navy’s performance.
“They’re one of my favorite bands of all time, and when one of my friends told me that they were coming, I was like, ‘Okay, I have to do this,’” Nourse said.
Syracuse University student band Luna and The Carpets opened the show. They sang originals and a cover of Gracie Abrams’ “That’s So True.” Dana Kim | Staff Photographer
SU students Grace Ferguson and Anjali Engstrom opened the show. Their indie-rock band, Luna and The Carpets, began the first set. They sang originals like “Haunted” and concluded with a cover of Gracie Abrams’ “That’s So True.”
Freshman Josie Kibel attended the event, having never listened to the performing artists. Now, she’s excited to explore more of both artists’ music.
“I really enjoyed them, so now I have two new artists to go look up after this,” Kibel said.
The first 40 people through the doors got a WERW shirt for following the station on Instagram, causing a group to huddle around the table, anxious to get one.
Before the show, local vendors, including Awkward Fish, Passion Fruit Studios and RatGirl Vintage hosted booths for attendees to purchase vintage and handmade clothing and jewelry.
Local vendors hosted booths of handmade and vintage clothing and jewelry for attendees to shop during WERW’s launch party. Dana Kim | Staff Photographer
Nourse is the creator of Passion Fruit Studios, an art and jewelry business; she vended at last year’s show and was invited back. Other groups, such as CrossRoads Collective and University Union, also made appearances, promoting their organizations and raising awareness about their goals.
Novy, the executive digital director of Jerk Magazine, was one of several university groups tabling that night. She’s been attending the launch parties for a few years. On a scale from 1 to 10, she said she was an “11” in terms of excitement for the event.
Kibel said she would “absolutely” return for the same event next year. She said she was excited to attend an on-campus concert for such a cheap price.
“I really love concerts, and I feel like there haven’t been many that I’ve been able to go to since I got here,” Kibel said. “I also wanted to support WERW. I think it’s great that they’re a student-run station, and I support what they do.”
Disclaimer: Josie Kibel is a contributing writer for The Daily Orange. She did not influence the editorial content of this article.
