Student bands perform: Two student groups bring music to the LaHaye Event Space

Student Activities hosted a student concert on Friday, Feb. 9, headlining indie-pop artist asiris, featuring the band doing too much. The hour-and-a-half concert took place in the LaHaye Event Space, where Liberty students were welcomed free of charge. 

“Student Activities promote these students’ concerts for students to get their music out there and have a platform to promote their own music. It is an opportunity for students to support other students’ art and work,” Gabriella Trotte, event supervisor of Student Activities, said. 

The group doing too much took the stage at 8 p.m., playing a total of six songs. The audience was captivated by their upbeat covers of songs such as “Bubbly” by Colbie Caillat. Slowing it down, the band performed Lainey Jackson’s original “I’m Sorry.”

“We came to support our friend Lainey Jackson, one of the female vocalists in doing too much,” sophomore Julia Komarnicki said.

With dimmed lights, smokey scenery and cheering crowds, asiris took the stage. The band has over 540,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, resulting in a large turnout of Liberty
students. The majority of asiris’ hit singles were played, such as “My Friend’s Toyota” and “Fifth Avenue,” resulting in a vibrant crowd.

Although asiris’ lead singer, Luke Simpson, is a student at Liberty University, the band’s outreach goes further than Virginia. An audience member in the crowd shouted out they drove six hours to come to see him perform.

“I love asiris. I’ve been listening to (their) music since it came out. I heard about (them) all the way from England before I came to Liberty,” sophomore Larah Schoonrad said.

Asiris was engaged with their audience, taking selfies on stage and copying the dance moves of crowd members.

During their lively songs, the crowd would jump up and down, shouting the lyrics back to the band. As for the acoustic section, members of the crowd linked arms swaying side to side holding their phone flashlights in the air.

“I love (Simpson) because he is naturally very humble while having a gift. Even throughout his career with how much he’s grown, he always stayed very humble, and he writes from his heart, which is really cool,” sophomore Talia Silver said.

As the concert came to an end with asiris exiting the stage, the crowd wanted to hear more, chanting, “One last song.” Asiris re-entered the stage for an encore ending the night with the rap single “Mission.” Afterward, Simpson and his band stood arm in arm, looking over and smiling at the crowd.

Upcoming student concert events hosted by Student Activities include Couch Acoustics held in Montview Starbucks Feb. 17 at 7 p.m., and We The Kingdom featuring LU Praise in the Vines Center Feb. 23 at 8 p.m.

For more information on Student Activities, visit www.liberty.edu/sa.

McDonald is a news reporter for the Liberty Champion