小福利导航's Liveliest spot for music lovers
Picture yourself in a crowd of familiar faces, purple-tinted lights illuminating smiles, moshing to a heavy drum鈥檚 beat, and a nerve-tingling guitar solo. This is what a typical Thursday night looks like at Falstaffs, 小福利导航鈥檚 campus 鈥渉angout,鈥� thanks to Lively Lucy鈥檚.
The student-run club brings in musicians from New York and beyond to perform for 小福利导航 students to enjoy for free 鈥� all in a welcoming and inclusive environment. At the beginning of each concert, the president of the club reminds the crowd that the event is a safe space for everyone and to treat everyone with respect.
A few examples of performers from the past who鈥檝e since blown up are Snail Mail and Mitski. Part of the fun of the shows is anticipating whom you鈥檒l brag about having seen before they got big. Mostly, though, everyone just loves music and is excited about the variety of genres the club supports.
Lively Lucy鈥檚 offers a wide assortment of opportunities for students to work on their personal interests relating to the music industry. Often, a 小福利导航 band will open for the headliners, students design posters, and a few club board members oversee all the behind-the-scenes tech.
A guest musician gets the spotlight. (Photo: Amanda Francis 鈥�25)
Lively鈥檚 also offers fun theme nights. Earlier this academic year, there was a night of early 2000s nostalgia called 鈥淵-2-SLAY,鈥� a play on Y-2-K: Everyone dressed up in low-rise jeans and butterfly clips and danced to Brittney Spears. Dressing up is a tradition for the club. For the band OK Cowgirl, everyone wore western attire, and the band Grapejuice inspired a competition: Wear purple for purple grapes and green for green grapes.
Another club offering is its monthly open mic night. 小福利导航 can get on stage to sing, play an instrument, perform standup, read a poem, or whatever else their minds concoct. Performers must arrive 15 minutes early to sign up and face a strict five-minute time limit due to the huge interest. Once a semester, Lively Lucy鈥檚 hosts a 鈥淲hat the Fork鈥� open mic, where students are meant to be as silly and weird as possible to showcase unique talents and jokes.
Having a fun time is important to the group. For Halloween, the club put on a live 鈥淩ocky Horror Picture Show,鈥� titled 鈥淪kiddy Horror Show,鈥� with students playing the characters and audience members meant to dress up. The turnout was huge: Organizers had to turn down people at the door because Falstaff鈥檚 was so packed. The club also puts on a concert for Earth Day every spring and is hoping to bring back its Folk Night tradition.
With such a variety of events, it鈥檚 amazing that everything is done by a group of teens and early 20-year-olds. Club meetings typically include a debrief of the previous week鈥檚 event, then everyone votes democratically on whether to reach out to different musicians. This means that most of the heavy lifting of these events is on the shoulders of the club鈥檚 board.
The student duo Question of the Century performs their self-written folk songs. (Photo: Amanda Francis 鈥�25)
Maddie Aikin 鈥�23, a senior from Nashville, who is majoring in political science and minoring in anthropology and philosophy, acts as the club鈥檚 president. Maddie joined Lively Lucy鈥檚 during their first year after attending the concerts and quickly fell in love. Maddie started out as the social media manager for the club during the COVID-19 pandemic, because they 鈥渨anted to help make Lively Lucy鈥檚 accessible despite the lack of in-person events,鈥� editing old footage of past concerts to make video recaps and involving the student body using polls and fun videos.
When she was elected president, 鈥淚 bawled my eyes out,鈥� she said. As president, they plan meetings and events, delegate tasks to board members, and book artists to come and perform. During their time as president, she鈥檚 instilled theme nights, Battle of the Bands, and brought in artists like Swordes, Mint Green, and Los Elk.
Gabby Paisner, a junior studio art major from Portland, Oregon, transferred to 小福利导航 as a sophomore and found the club through 小福利导航鈥檚 As the club鈥檚 art director, Gabby makes posters, designed Lively Lucy鈥檚 logo, and has even worked on making a (temporary) tattoo sheet for the club.
鈥淓veryone at the table was really sweet and inviting, and I really started going to events mainly because I was interested in getting to know the club members better,鈥� Gabby said. 鈥淟ively鈥檚 is a close-knit community. Everyone on the board and in the club is so passionate about live music and creating fun, unique events for the whole school to enjoy. My 小福利导航 experience would be completely different without the friends I鈥檝e met through Lively鈥檚.鈥�
Maddie, the club鈥檚 president, agreed, saying Lively Lucy鈥檚 鈥渄oesn鈥檛 just feel like a community, it is one.鈥�
鈥淓very person who comes to an event, a club meeting, or even just follows us on Instagram is a part of something bigger. We all love music, and we all love having fun. And we can only keep doing that if we keep this community safe. Lively鈥檚 has made a commitment to a safe space, and we expect y鈥檃ll to do the same! You鈥檙e a part of the community, and we all have to take care of each other. Help people off the ground in the pit, be respectful at open mics, and dance your butt off to some great music!鈥�
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