With the arrival of the 2025 graduation weekend, student musicians went above and beyond to deliver memorable last performances. Whether it was their own last hurrah or in commemoration of their band members graduation, University bands set the Corner abuzz with music and bittersweet nostalgia as fellow fourth-years flooded to the bars to toast their achievements.
Bands took varied approaches in delivering their final performances, but all sought to incorporate songs of particular salience and meaning to tribute both their own journeys alongside the graduates in the audience.
Student cover band One Step Behind partook in full-circle festivities for the fourth years at their final gig Saturday at Crozet Pizza Buddhist Biker Bar, the bar where they had their inaugural performance. Jason Simon, bassist and fourth-year College graduate, expressed the gratitude the band felt performing for loved ones during a time of celebration.
“It definitely means a lot to us to be playing at Grad weekend,” Simon said. “The band is something that obviously, we really enjoy, but we've always felt that it's something that we should share with our friends and families.”
In their final gig, the band chose to shift their attention to the audience, focusing not only on the music but the people who supported them along the way. This included a tribute to their Frank Sinatra-loving grandmothers in the audience with “My Way.” They also paid tribute to the Crozet Pizza worker who got them their first gig. Knowing he was a country lover, the band included Zach Bryan’s “Nine Ball” to honor him.
“He was able to get us in in October, and we kind of never looked back from that. So I just want to show some appreciation to him,” Simon said.
Pocket-Nines, known as the Phi Kappa Psi house band, also celebrated their final public gig with the graduating members on the last day of classes at Ellie’s Country Club. Olivia Conniff, lead vocalist and fourth-year College graduate shared that being a part of Pocket-Nines has been a formative aspect of her college career, not only in boosting her confidence through public performance, but also in opening her eyes to new and different sides of the University.
“I've gotten to meet a lot of new people at U.Va. through doing different gigs, and gotten to play at a lot of cool venues that I maybe wouldn't have seen otherwise. It's just really broadened my view of the U.Va. community as a whole,” Conniff said.
For their setlist, Conniff said that they chose to include more emotional, nostalgia-evoking favorites like “Yellow” by Coldplay and The Beatles’ “Hey Jude” towards the end of the set list and then end on a happier note after the encore with a crowd pleaser like “September” by Earth, Wind & Fire or “Before He Cheats” by Carrie Underwood.
Beyond the music itself, the shared experience and everyday moments with bandmates have made the journey unforgettable for Conniff and her fellow band members.
“We have spent so much time together over the last four semesters that they've become some of my closest friends and even like family to me at U.Va.,” Conniff said. “It's been really special.”
This sense of deep connection and nostalgia carried into another standout performance from Charlottesville-based band Weekends and Wednesdays, who lit up the stage Friday at Crozet Pizza. With all of its original members now graduated, Friday’s gig marked the last time Weekends and Wednesdays performed together as a band.
Weekends and Wednesdays chose to move beyond the generic college crowd-pleasers and focus more internally on the band with a setlist that reflected the unique journey of their members. Teddy Price, singer, guitarist and second-year College student, said that for their final gig, the setlist was loosely organized in “eras” of the band to honor the significant phases gone through together.
“[We played] a lot of songs that are our favorites and are close to home. We have these inside jokes with references a lot of times, and the crowd likes them too, but they tend to have a deeper meaning with us,” Price said.
One song of particular importance for Weekends and Wednesday that they chose to revisit at their final gig was “Edward 40hands” by Mom Jeans. This was one of the first songs that the band played purely for their own enjoyment, according to Matt McGraw, bassist and third-year College student.
“That song became really special to all of us and kind of encouraged us to branch out a little more in our last year and find stuff that we were really excited about,” McGraw said.
Friday’s show marked a bittersweet moment for the band, sending off three graduates of its five members. While the setlist reflected the band’s evolution over time, the night was just as much about honoring the relationships they built behind the scenes.
“I hope [the audience] can see the love that we all have for each other, and kind of feel that chemistry,” Price said. “That in the end of it all is what it’s all about … we want people to feel the energy and the love that we have for one another.”
A previous version of this article had incorrectly stated a source’s last name. The name has been corrected. The article has been updated to reflect this change.
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