The music scene on campus is what originally inspired me to write for The Stute, and this past weekend being Techfest gave me a lot to think about. The openers were fantastic. The tented stage felt large and the lighting effects were fun and added ambiance. There was good turnout, and while long lines can’t be fully avoided, it never felt overcrowded. I got a Minecraft frog painted on my face but did not go in the bouncy castle, a decision I regret. It would have significantly improved the Neon Trees set.
I believe I voted for Neon Trees for Techfest, but my impression of them severely decreased after watching their performance. When I was in eighth grade, I listened to “Everybody Talks” constantly; it was the soundtrack to my life. I also loved “Animal,” but that’s where mine and I would guess 90% of Techfest attendees’ knowledge of Neon Trees stopped. The first song played, and then they immediately lost power, and there was at least a 1-minute delay for the next song. The second song played, and I thought to myself, “Are they a Christian Rock band?” In fact, all of the band’s members were raised Mormon. The Rolling Stone reports, “while the band has no overt religious affiliation, it credits the Church of Latter-day Saints’ strict ordinances against drinking and drugs – which the members have adopted as band rules – with helping its rise.”
I didn’t know or understand any of the words of the songs until “Animal.” Between songs, Tyler Glenn (lead vocals) flipped off the crowd, called us Weehawken, and made fun of us for only knowing the words to the most popular songs. He said, “You guys are good at math: I was born in 1983, how old does that make me?” Your professors have earned several degrees in the time that it took this guy to headline River Lot. The whole time, he was peacocking in the most egregious manner possible.
Maybe you think I’m being too harsh on the guy, but I don’t think I’ve ever watched a performer so obsessed with his image. A couple of days before Techfest, I was at Drag Bingo hosted by Robin Fierce. Robin made some similar comments about feeling old when no one in the room was over 23. The difference is that Robin is 28 and an entertaining performer/host, regardless of the crowd. The majority of the people in that tent were half Glenn’s age and he still looked at the crowd like he could pull. There was an uncomfortable amount of sexual energy directed out into the crowd, like when he prefaced “Sleeping with a Friend” by saying, “Do I have any friends here?” There were also odd and frequent rants between songs, like when he mentioned he didn’t go to college but still had good hair and gets laid.
Techfest is the largest and best event of the semester by many standards, but reviewing my four here, they are certainly not my favorite concerts I’ve been to. My freshman year it was on Zoom; sophomore year, I had coronavirus, and last year, it was in Canavan. Honestly, Rico Nasty on Zoom might have been my favorite Techfest performance. I think the student openers consistently outperform the headliners. They have a better understanding of the audience’s tastes, and they’ve had Battle of the Bands to prepare for a show like this. The headliners get voted because a lot of people know at least one song from them, but those are never the bands anyone really wants to see. It’s not worth it to splurge on a name that everyone knows if the majority of the show people are just waiting to hear the one song they know. It would be interesting to see if smaller artists across genres with more dedicated fanbases could be booked, and attendees could have an option or variety of performances to see.
