SUN CLUB, a pop band from Baltimore, is coming to Bowdoin for the first time tonight to play in Ladd House. Hosted by WBOR, the show is being billed as “a warm concert for a cold Maine.” Treefarm, a student band, will open starting at 9 p.m.

Noah Fardon ’16—who handles concert bookings for WBOR—says that he has been trying to set up this event since first hearing SUN CLUB at the Elberta Mansion in Nashville, Tenn. several years ago. Their music, according to Fardon, is exactly what Maine needs right now to counteract the cold and snow.

“SUN CLUB’s name is perfectly indicative of their sound,” he wrote in an email to the Orient. “They write hyper, spontaneous, guitar-driven pop with a summertime sheen to it.”
As for the band’s genre, Fardon could only describe it as “spunky-fun-love-super-ultra-jungle-music.”

SUN CLUB first came together while the members were still in high school. Over the years they have toured throughout the U.S. and Canada, received critical acclaim on music blogs, and amassed a dedicated fan base. They are currently preparing for the upcoming release of their first official full-length album and European tour in May.

Friday’s concert will mark SUN CLUB’s fourth-ever concert in Maine. SUN CLUB guitarist Shane Justice McCord, in a phone interview with the Orient, shared that he was looking forward to the event in part because of positive past experiences in the state. 

“Maine is usually really cool. Pretty weird,” McCord said.

The concert is part of a larger WBOR objective to expand Bowdoin’s music scene.
“We at WBOR chose SUN CLUB because they are a phenomenal, incredibly wild live act that few people have heard of,” wrote Fardon. “And thus they fulfill two major goals that we have: to throw an incredible party that is rooted in the brilliance of music and to challenge our peers to broaden their musical horizons by checking out a band that all are certain to enjoy, though their name might not be familiar.”

WBOR leaders have been working to plan a “house show” concert for more than a year, because intimate settings like Ladd House give bands the ability to connect with their audience in a way that other, larger venues do not. So when Ladd House members approached WBOR about the concert, WBOR eagerly jumped on board. 

The concert will be held in conjunction with the Fifty Shades of Groutfit campus-wide party that Ladd is holding instead of the Inappropriate Party.

Treefarm—composed of Ryan Fowler ’15, Greg Stasiw ’15, Sky Monaco ’16, Evan Montilla ’17, Arindam Jurakhan ’17 and Ben West ’16—is looking forward to the concert. Founded in 2013, the group usually plays an eclectic mix of its own music and covers of indie pop songs. Jurukhan, a trombone player and the group’s most recent addition, said that Treefarm often performs songs and sets with jazz and blues influences.

Jurakhan said that he gets excited whenever a live music act comes to campus.  For him, that excitement is multiplied since he will be performing as well.

Jurakhan agreed with Fardon that the two groups will meld well. While not intimately familiar with SUN CLUB, he said that he had listened to several of their songs and felt that they had a similar, energetic feel. 

“There is a lot of potential power in a band’s ability to connect with audiences in such a vulnerable scenario as a house show, and SUN CLUB has mastered the art,” wrote Fardon.
While many upperclass students expressed disappointment at the cancellation of the Inappropriate Party, Maddi Kuras ’18 felt quite the opposite.

“I’m really pumped to be perfectly honest, because Treefarm is supposed to be great and I love live music,” she said.