On Friday, Sept. 16, Clemson’s alternative radio station WSBF-FM hosted their first show of the semester in the Botanical Gardens. Featuring bands such as Quality Time, Aubrey Keys, Lowertown, and Wednesday, the show brought in crowds of alt-music fans and students alike.
Alongside the bands, WSBF hosted a Mexican shaved-ice truck, a tent from Moe Joe Coffee Co. and a small clothing and vinyl thrift stall.
Opening the performance was Quality Time, a band located out of Greenville, South Carolina. They treated the crowd to several original pieces, including “High Five,” “Halloweentown 2,” “Return to Halloweentown 2” and their most recent release, “Recliner.” Throughout their stage time, they showcased a talent for all different shades of the indie music genre by balancing aggressive calls to the dance floor with occasional somber, reminiscent tones. Out of all their performances, their song “You’re in College Now” was by far my favorite, a sentiment seemingly shared by their Spotify listeners, as it remains their most listened to song with over 45,000 streams.
Quality Time surpassed expectations, living up to their name. If you would like to listen to their discography or follow their musical journey, they can be found on Instagram and Spotify under their band name.
Next to perform was Aubrey Key, another local musician from upstate South Carolina. Key’s music takes aspects of psychedelic folk, fuzzy rock and all across the indie genre to create a beautiful style. It made for a perfect soundtrack as the sun set on the concert.
Key played a variety of their releases such as “Cow,” “Bon Iver” and “Sad Cowboy Emoji,” which turned out to be my favorite, as well as the song that brought a majority of the crowd down to sing along and dance. His beautiful set seemed to fly by as the crowd was lost in Key’s voice.
Key’s latest release on Spotify is “Counting Sheep.” More information on upcoming performances and releases can be found on social media under Aubrey Key.
Taking the stage next was the first of two main performances, Lowertown, a duo composed of Olivia Osby and Avshalom Weinberg based out of Atlanta, Georgia. Lowertown brought a beautifully aggressive sound to the audience.
The performance marked the one-year anniversary of the release of their most popular album “The Gaping Mouth.” The performance of the album’s name-sake song filled the audience with cheers. Though, their song “Antibiotics,” released only a day before the concert, quickly became my favorite.
Upcoming releases from Lowertown include “No Way” on Oct. 5, as well as an album release show set on Oct. 21. They can be found on most social media platforms under their band name.
Closing the show was Wednesday, a band based out of Asheville, North Carolina. With the sun set and the night gaining, Wednesday came into their set powerful and engaging.
The vocals were incredibly ranged and inspiring and wonderfully complimented by ethereal sounding guitars. They played a variety of their popular releases including “Maura,” “Handsome Man” and their latest release, “Bull Believer.” The crowd expended their last bit of energy in rocking along with Wednesday’s aggressive anthems, setting a perfect end to the concert.
Currently, Wednesday is on tour around the southeast until Oct. 6, which I highly recommend you attend if you can. For further information, they can be found across social media under their band name.
The WSBF show was a perfect kick-off to the fall season, and has left Clemson excited for their next production! Follow them on TigerQuest or on Instagram @wsbf-fm for more information.
