Ava Arepally

Last Friday, students excitedly gathered in Morrell Gymnasium for the annual Spring Concert. The concert, organized by the Bowdoin Entertainment Board (E-Board), featured two headliners with performances from artists redveil and Del Water Gap.

Each year, the E-Board starts planning for the show in October, and it attempts to choose a range of artists and genres for students to enjoy, according to one of its leaders, Oliver Clachko ’26.

“Students are at Bowdoin for four years, and while specific students’ enthusiasm might vary from year to year, it’s our hope that everyone gets to see something that they really love by the time they graduate,” Clachko wrote in an email to the Orient.

For this year, the E-Board started by searching for an indie rock artist.

“Bowdoin hasn’t had a high-energy, upbeat rock act for the Spring Concert in a while, so we started by looking for popular artists that would fit that bill. Del Water Gap was on our list from the beginning—we knew that a lot of Bowdoin students were fans, and he had also gotten great reviews from people who had seen him in concert,” Clachko wrote.

This focus on a diverse and unique performance was key to the E-Board’s selection process as the team considered a second act.

“We knew that opening the concert with a rapper would complement Del Water Gap well and widen the concert’s appeal. We thought it would be a good idea to look for a more abstract/jazz-rap/soul oriented hip-hop artist,” Clachko wrote. “A lot of us on the E-Board have been fans of redveil for a while, and he was one of the first rappers we looked at.”

E-Board member Anabel Schiller ’28 enjoyed seeing the show come together.

“Friday afternoon I was out, buying snacks for [redveil] and setting up his dressing room, which is kind of crazy to think about. It’s also really cool to see [these artists] do their sound checks and interacting with their crew and meeting us and just being genuine people. I feel like that’s something we don’t see. But then we also see them in a totally different vibe on stage,” Schiller said.

First-year rock band Pariah opened the concert with an eight-song set after its Battle of the Bands victory in February. In their preparation for the concert, the band was able to bond, deepening their connections with one another.

“The band is like my house, my family. The other three members, they’re amazing, and they’re also really great musicians. We have a gig almost every week this semester, and it’s really fun when we just practice together, eat together. We’re always together,” lead singer Aoi Araki ’28 said.

The four-person band has had great success thus far, but the chance to open the Spring Concert for redveil and Del Water Gap brought a new opportunity—especially with new effects and equipment.

“It was really crazy to be able to play on such a massive stage with a whole team of sound and lights doing such a great job,” bassist Theo Strauss ’28 said.

Araki echoed this enthusiasm.

“The stage and lights were insane.… I’m just really thankful that we got the opportunity to really open for the two artists, especially redveil who shouted us out multiple times. We’re so [appreciative] to everybody who helped us make this show awesome,” Araki said.

For Strauss, the unique, advanced setup of the concert played a key role in his experience.

“I was really looking forward to ‘Silvera’ by Gojira. I was singing that song, the hardest song we’ve attempted so far, and we put a lot of work into it. I was excited to attempt performing it and overcoming that hurdle,” Strauss said.

Students in the crowd brought energy and excitement to the performances, whether they knew and loved the artist already or were new to their music.

“Last summer, I saw Del Water Gap open for Niall Horan. After that, I became a big fan. I was super excited to hear he was coming to Bowdoin, and it was so much fun seeing such a great performance on campus,” attendee Camdyn Chung ’28 said.