The University hosts dozens of talented student bands, formed from a strong culture of student self-governance and Charlottesville's bustling live music scene. Several Contracted Independent Organizations on Grounds are even dedicated to forming and endorsing these bands, such as University Records and WXTJ. University Records provides resources for students to perform at music shows through their own dedicated community, and WXTJ is the University's independent radio station that frequently hosts live music, tiny desk events and student-run shows.
Together, the two CIOs collaborated to put on a performance Saturday at The Southern Café & Music Hall, one of the leading music venues in Charlottesville’s historic Downtown Mall. Students worked to nominate their favorite bands on WXTJ’s Instagram post, where four of them — Loose Champagne, The Remedies, No Composure and Ranger — were then selected by WXTJ according to popularity in the post’s comments section. To give back to the community, WXTJ and University Records decided to donate all ticket proceeds to the Cavalier Food Pantry.
Compared to performances at fraternities or bars, events that focus solely on a musical performance often promise concertgoers that are more enthusiastic about the music itself. As its own dedicated music venue, The Southern provides a great opportunity for bands to reach a devoted audience, according to Lucas Ihnat, guitarist of No Composure and fourth-year College student.
“People who go to The Southern and these types of venues really care about music,” Ihnat said. “The crowd is super engaged with what we’re doing, and it's really rewarding to see people who really enjoy music, really mess with what we're doing.”
The night kicked off with Ranger, an alternative-rock band who specializes in homemade production. During their performance, Ranger was selling stickers to benefit the C'ville Care Bears, a grassroots coalition that aims to assist unhoused people in Charlottesville. Ranger started off their set by playing “Faithmongering (Travels with God in Search of America),” an original song that was released in April. Immediately after, Ranger played an unreleased song called “Slouch,” with a rich bass line and hard, metal-like guitar.
Ranger also chose two covers to play during their set — “I Don’t Smoke” by Mitski and “Killing in the Name” by Rage Against the Machine. The Mitski cover felt reminiscent of her Audiotree Live version, with a raw guitar line and mournful vocals. These two songs, clearly familiar to the audience, had many singing and dancing along to the performance.
The second set saw No Composure, an indie-rock band that released their debut EP “Everything Happens” in March. During the set, the band played several of their original songs, like “Say What You Mean” and “Cups and Plates.” The band has emphasized playing original music to audiences because of the effort that goes into its creation, Ihnat said.
“Especially recently, we’ve been working collaboratively on a lot of our original songs more so than we did in the past,” Ihnat said. “I think [this] has shown in our work, and we’re really proud of it.”
No Composure also performed two stand-out covers — a striking rock mash-up of “EoO” by Bad Bunny and a cover of “Sex” by The 1975 that brought boisterous applause and sing-alongs from the crowd. The variety in their original sounds and covers kept the set feeling fresh and boosted the audience’s energy. With The Southern’s purple fairy lights and paper lanterns, the venue feels as though it could be situated in a house’s basement, which contributed to the spirited energy of performers and listeners all night. It is clear that No Composure has garnered a dedicated fanbase after years of playing gigs, enough for the audience to enjoy every track, singing along to both covers and originals.
The Remedies, a multi-genre band, then took to the stage. At this point, the venue was the most crowded it had been all night, and anticipation was high for the third set. Stand out songs were “I Will Survive” by Gloria Gaynor and Fleetwood Mac’s “The Chain,” crowd-pleasing tunes that most could sing along to. However the last song — “F—k You” by CeeLo Green — got the most audience engagement with everyone gleefully chanting out the chorus. The Remedies aim to play songs that feel fresh so their performances stay enjoyable, according to Laveen Hiranandani, saxophonist of The Remedies and second-year Engineering student.
“For me, a band is having fun with my friends and getting to jam with them … We want our fun to be infectious [and] we want other people who watch us to have fun,” Hiranandani said.
Loose Champagne, an R&B and funk band, played the last set of the night. The band is well-known at the University, opening for the Quavo concert last spring and even playing at WXTJ’s previous show at the Southern with No Composure. According to Isabel Xiao, graduate Arts & Sciences student and bassist of Loose Champagne, the band aims to highlight songs by musicians of color.
“The idea was always to play stuff that is not as popular here, play stuff by Black artists, artists of color,” Xiao said. “We want to play Stevie Wonder. We want to play hard funk arrangements. We want to play jazz. We want people to listen to a diversity of genres.”
With a distinctive keyboard and bass line, Loose Champagne covered songs like “Need to Know” by Doja Cat and “Nakamarra” by Hiatus Kaiyote. One performance that also seemed popular among the crowd was their cover of “Finesse” by Bruno Mars. They also played an unreleased original song called “Make It Easy,” which allowed the set to be even more distinct by mixing covers with original songs on top of popular tracks with lesser known ones. Loose Champagne’s unique arrangement both exposed audiences to new sounds and uncovered the musical influences behind the band.
Looking forward, Xiao and Ihnat both said their respective bands hope to release more original music, whether that be through an EP or an album. For many bands, covers are only the foundation that brings them to performing their own music.
“Covers, they're fun to play and people like to hear them, but the thing about that is that it’s a template,” Xiao said. “You are shown what to play, you're shown how to play, but when it’s original music, that’s all you. … We are all very interested in shaping our own sound and presenting that.”
The Southern’s concert presented a moment for bands to come together and perform in front of an audience of dedicated music lovers. This night allowed musicians to show off popular covers or even their own original songs, reaching fans both old and new across their strong and spirited performances.
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