Lend Me an E.A.R.
Hosted by E.A.R. (Exeter’s Association of Rock), students from all over campus gathered last Saturday in Agora to listen to talented musicians pluck strings, press keys and sing their hearts out in Exeter’s Winter Acoustic Concert. Senior Megan Smith and upper Sarah Brown opened the show with a mash-up of Drag Me Down and As Long As You Live, and as the night progressed, the audience saw talent in many forms from Tommy Song belting Riptide to Audrey Hahn and Jeff Mellen blowing everyone away with their rendition of Billy Joel’s Vienna.A free-form club, Exeter’s Association of Rock hosts two concerts per term. There are no regular club meeting times—E.A.R. runs solely on students signing themselves up to perform. “Personally, I really like this aspect of the club, because it gives it a very inclusive feeling, and shows that we’re not pretentious,” co-head Mellen said. “We’re just here to have fun and make great music along the way.”Robert Squires, E.A.R.’s faculty advisor, agrees with Mellen. He added, “They give, for the love of performing rock music alone, 110 percent of their effort and self-motivation. It seems to ensure a fun-filled excited yearly contribution of performances to a very appreciative campus.”
“People are always very supportive of our shows regardless of their own involvement with music.”
“My role is to ensure the safety of the group, number one, and also to aid and assist their success,” he said.The audience filled Agora completely and received each performance with thunderous applause and ear-splitting whistles. From the funk rock beat of Short Skirt Long Jacket to the indie soul Work Song, all of the night’s performances were met with huge support from the crowd. “I’m always struck by the level of support the crowd gives at E.A.R. and music events,” senior Gillian Chu said. “The audience members were so kind and encouraging, even when people messed up. It made me feel proud to be there.”Upper Abigail Africa agreed. She described the intensity of Olivia Lei’s performance of James Bay’s Let it Go. “It was the second to last performance, so people were getting pretty loud in the back, but she started singing and it just seemed like a hush fell over Agora. It was just really good,” she said.One highlight of the performance was upper Aili Desai’s self-composed song Counting Minutes. Performed by students Tess Aalto, Aidan Wolff-King, Jeff Mellen, Jon Lee, Aivant Goyal and Sean Taylor (who also MC’d the night), Desai’s piece struck Agora with its talent and beauty.The consistently high turnouts at various E.A.R. concerts throughout the year continue to show the strength of music on campus. “I think Exeter has a fairly vibrant music culture,” Mellen said. “People are always very supportive of our shows regardless of their own involvement with music, which is one of the many things that makes being a part of E.A.R. so much fun.”Lower Maya Kim agreed. “I think it is incredible that there are so many students in music at Exeter. For example, the Christmas concert had hundreds of students participating in various groups. It’s impressive that we have so many choices. You can be part of an Acapella group, an orchestra or a band,” Kim said.If you didn’t get the time to come by and hear lower Oren Stern lead the entire student center in the chorus of Yellow Submarine or Tommy Kim and Tommy Song (affectionately nicknamed Tommy^2) kick out feisty George Ezra, E.A.R. is holding other events in the spring and it’s safe to say they will be just as electric as this one.