Ella Diers, Editor-in-Chief; and Chris Andaya, Staff Writer
Students gathering at C-Haus on a Saturday night isn’t exactly an uncommon sight on the Beloit College campus, but this Saturday, March 23rd, they were there for something special. WBCR, Beloit College’s student radio, hosted WBCR Fest at C-Haus, complete with t-shirt making, CD giveaways, live music, and dancing.
Station manager Finn Waterman‘26 could be found on the lawn outside of C-Haus for the first hour of the event, spray painting custom t-shirts for those who wanted some WBCR swag. When talking to Waterman later in the night, he expressed a lot of excitement about how the event was going. He said, “I definitely feel like this is a successful night, people got t-shirts, the first band was phenomenal, I know the second band is gonna do great, and there’s been a really good crowd the whole time, and I’m really proud of how this event turned out.” His sentiment seemed to be shared among the student body as well, looking around the venue people could be seen dancing and clapping along with smiles on their faces.
WBCR Fest as a whole had a punk cowboy theme, and that vibe was beautifully represented in the outfits people were rocking, as well as the bands that played at the event. The first band to play was the Laurel Hells Ramblers, and when we spoke to the lead vocalist of the band, Clover, they expressed that their band’s style was “Gothic bluegrass, so we do a lot of like old town, bluegrass, fiddle banjo stuff, that kind of thing.” College students donned cowboy hats and studded belts to cheer on the Laurel Hells Ramblers throughout their whole set, which felt very fitting.
The second band to play was Olivia and the Lovers. The lead of the band, Olivia, spoke on their music, saying “We make gay cowboy music for gay cowboys. We play almost exclusively originals and a couple of standards sort of with the intention of creating a space for queer people in this genre that is often sung in spaces that are not safe for queer people.” Many of their songs covered queer topics, with a particular emphasis on songs that were about queer joy, and not suffering. Talking with Olivia further, they reflected on their experience playing at C-Haus as a Beloit alumnus, remarking that they were excited to be back here and showing Beloit students their art. They said, “I figured out a lot of stuff about myself here, went to school here, and for this project and what we do together I was super confident that the people who would come to this space to hear music would be down for it.”
And down for it people certainly were, the crowd seemed to just be having more as the night progressed. Overall, WBCR Fest 2024 was a resounding success, and people are very excited to see what other events are in store for the rest of the spring semester. When we spoke to Waterman, he expressed that he wants Round Table readers to know “that if they wish to, they can get their own radio show next year! This year it’s kind of filled up but next year, Fall 2024, I’m so down to get some new students in to get radio shows because honestly, one of the most fun things of the year is just having people on the radio.” WBCR provides a wonderful space for Beloit Students to easily get their voice heard, even if it’s just about something silly like a song that they enjoy. It’s a safe space on campus, something that was a theme of the night overall. Olivia from Olivia and the Lovers had more to say about the idea of safe spaces and the role that music plays in those ideas. They remarked, “It feels very deeply, categorically important to me to make music for people like me, and that’s what we’re doing. We are trying to take intentional space not only for us but for the people we bring out, and to carve out a space that is always existing.” Hopefully, C-Haus and WBCR can continue to be safe spaces for Beloit students, as well as spaces where people can just feel joy and have a good time. This whimsy and joy was certainly expressed at the end of Waterman’s interview when he was asked to comment on the “hot babes” at WBCR Fest. He replied “There are so many hot babes in the crowd, so many hot babes,” and was met with cheers from the surrounding crowd.
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