With Tally dining closing and Starbucks running quietly in the back, Wired! was already off to a good start imitating their coffeehouse feel to a crowd of roughly 60 caffeinated students.
"It's like being born again," sophomore Phil Johnson said as technical difficulties were hashed out behind the scenes.
For ten minutes the crowd waited for the first note as amps went from working condition to fading out. Finally, technical difficulties aside, Johnson began the show.
The loop pedal he used, a pedal that records a motif and then plays it back, added a different layer to his performance. He played five songs and then handed the microphone back to junior Nick Hewitt, the event coordinator for Wired!
Following Johnson was sophomore Taylor Amspaugh. "This was the first time I played in a while," he said. "I really hope I get to play again for future Wired! shows."
While students dined and chatted, sophomore Nathan Pierson took the stage. "I've been playing off-and-on for ten years and am hoping to release my first EP in either late fall or early winter," he said.
He played his own twist on the cult classic "Wonderwall" by Oasis, released in October 1995. His twist? During the song he rapped the opening from "Fresh Prince of Bell Air" and the chorus line of "Best I Ever Had" the new hit by rapper Drake.
"I'm glad the audience clapped along when I asked," he said. He said he hopes to play again with Wired!
Following Pierson was junior Jim Gedda, who has earned the nickname "Johnny Cash." As soon as he began singing it became clear why he was given that nickname. He played a cover of a Conaway Twitty song.
The fourth performer of the night, junior Nick Walmer, said he was not feeling well and was playing on a new guitar. "I always get nervous," he said. "I'm just glad that it went well."
Sophomore Ray Gibson took a composition notebook on stage. He played "Simple Man" by Lynyrd Skynrd and many in the audience mouthed along silently.
"I write my own stuff but sometimes I take the notebook up when I haven't practiced in a while," he said.
The final performance of the night was by junior music technology major Paul Schwarz.
"I don't get nervous when I'm playing sets like this," he said. A classical guitarist for the last four-and-a-half years, he said he gets nervous before recital hours and studio classes.
His girlfriend, junior music performance major Ashley Wells, said his song was upbeat.
"I'll let you decide," he said. "The music is upbeat but they lyrics have an irony to the upbeat music."
After the show ended, Johnson said the show was rough in the beginning with all of the technical difficulties but he had fun, and it was really laid-back by the end.
Hewitt said students can expect great things for future shows.
"We're still working out a lot of details," he said. "We're thinking of doing 15-minute openers followed by a 45-minute band set from now on but we still have a lot to talk about, including new equipment."
The next Wired! show will be Sept. 24 and it will be similar to Thursday's show, except it will feature bands. The show will be free and will be held in Tally Dining Center.
"We had several new artists tonight and we're hoping for the same thing next week," Hewitt said.
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