Local Bands Wow USU Students at Annual Big Agg Show

Aggie Radio 92.3 KBLU, The Utah State University Student Association Series Committee and Utah State University came together Thursday for the annual Big Agg Show Music Festival. The festival featured a whole host of bands local to Utah, including The Cronies, The Backseat Lovers, Cinders, The Solarists, Grey Glass, Brother., Tiny Cartwheel, The Band VERA and The National Parks.

The nine artists were divided among two stages on the USU Quad. The concert began at 5:30 p.m. and continued well past 11 p.m.. Many students and community members alike were a part of the show from the beginning and braved the heat of the earlier sets in hopes of catching the National Parks, who headlined the event.

The festival began with local Cache Valley favorites, The Cronies.  They kicked off the show at 5 p.m., and highlighted new songs such as “King of the World” as well as familiar favorites, including the themes from popular and nostalgic TV shows “The Office” and “Drake & Josh.”

“Performing in the college atmosphere is unlike any other venue,” said Daniel Burt, vocalist and keyboard player of The Cronies. “The crowd was lively, responsive and ready to party. Bands came to jam with the crowd, the shows were personal, the music was tight. Overall, USU pulled off a surprisingly good and smooth music festival that people will remember until graduation.”

The Cronies were followed by Tiny Cartwheel, a project started by WhySound’s own Taylor Ross Wilson. Tiny Cartwheel is known for their EP, which was entirely written, produced, recorded and performed in front of an audience in only 48 hours.

The festival was largely orchestrated by Aggie Radio’s events director, Mae Swainston.

“Overall, the Big Agg Show went as well as I could hope,” Swainston said. “There were a few hiccups, but in the end, I think some of those moments are what made this year so memorable.”

She continued.

“The turnout was amazing, at over 1,000 people, and it was honestly a beautiful experience to see everyone smiling and jamming with the music!”

Aggie Radio music director, Lydia Velasquez was impressed with the show’s turnout. As the festival went along, the crowd continued to grow, and Velasquez was thrilled about the support the local bands were receiving.

“I loved the effortless support given to the bands from everyone that came. From Logan locals supporting Logan bands to people from other parts of Utah coming to support their favorites, to Utah State students seeing bands they’d never heard before. By the end of the night they were all buying the band’s merch, and that was my favorite part.”

Tiny Cartwheel perform at the 2018 Big Agg Show at Utah State University. The show is put on by Aggie Radio as part of Utah State’s Weeks of Welcome and features bands from all over Utah. (Megan Nielsen)

Bands like Provo’s The Backseat Lovers, who won Velour Live’s famed Battle of the Bands back in June were such a hit with the USU students, they were almost entirely sold out of their merchandise by the end of the night.

The young musicians, all aged 18, 19 or 22, wowed the crowd with their indie-rock hits like “Elevator Days” and “Out of Tune.”

By the time the sun began to set, the Quad was filling up with students hoping to catch groups like Cinders, the Solarists and The National Parks.

Each group brought something new to the lineup this year. Though the sounds of each group brought something unique to the table, the general sound of the festival was upbeat and lively. From folk rock to indie pop to alternative, there was something for everyone at the Big Agg Show this year.

USU freshman Nick Templeton attended the Big Agg show with friends and loved the show.

“All the bands were so amazing and all the fans were ready to party,” he said, “so it made it super easy to have a great time.”

Templeton’s favorite part of the Big Agg Show took place during The Solarist’s set.

“The guy with the amazing beard busted out some super good vocals. It was amazing,” he said.

Rock group Grey Glass followed by The Solarists and Cinders played rousing sets under the stars. At this point, the Quad seemed nearly filled with students. Many students, committee members and performers alike speculated that this festival was one of the biggest and most well-attended Big Agg Shows they had seen in a long time.

Around 10:00 p.m., the moment everyone was waiting for had finally arrived. Despite a quick delay due to a loss of sound on the main stage, the audience, now as full as it had been all night, was brimming with energy as they awaited the emergence of The National Parks.

Body-to-body students congregated against the barricades, trying to get as close to the stage as possible. The moment the National Parks stepped on stage, the energy was palpable.

They opened with popular hit “Coração.” Audience members were jumping up and down, singing along to every word as if they had all somehow rehearsed beforehand.

The audience participation never wavered throughout the duration of the set. In fact, it got even stronger when the main stage lost power around 11 p.m.

The lights shut off. The sound went away, and the National Parks never lost their energy for one moment. Frontman Brady Parks, ever the commanding stage presence, managed to quiet down the packed crowd to make an announcement.

“We’re going to do an acoustic version of ‘You Are Gold,’” Parks said. “But I need you all to be as quiet as possible.”

The crowd, who had been jumping, cheering and loudly singing only minutes earlier were silenced immediately.

Students dance by the stage at the 2018 Big Agg Show at Utah State University. The show is put on by Aggie Radio as part of Utah State’s Weeks of Welcome and features bands from all over Utah. (Megan Nielsen)

The National Parks quietly began to sing one of their most popular love songs. Everyone in the audience sounded nearly angelic as they reverently sang along with the band. Lit up by the glow of everyone’s phone flashlights, the ambience of this moment of the show was nothing short of magical.

But they didn’t stop there. They proceeded to sing their hit single “As We Ran,” the crowd singing along the entire time.

In the audience, whispers of “This is so cool,” “I love this so much,” and “How are they doing this?” were barely heard over The National Parks leading the crowd in one giant sing along.

The National Parks finished their set to roaring applause and walked off the stage, chants of “Encore!” and “One more song” following them the whole way.

The Big Agg Show, from start to finish, was nothing short of memorable and magical. Each band brought their all to the stage, and the audience gave their all to every group on stage. The electricity of the night was impossible to misplace.

The Big Agg Show Music Festival would have not happened without the countless hours of work from members of Aggie Radio, the backstage sound crew, The USUSA Series Committee and of course, the talented musicians who joined the festival this year.  

For information about this year’s lineup, local music and upcoming shows, check out the USU Statesman’s website, Facebook or Twitter; listen to Aggie Radio 92.3 KBLU; visit aggieradio.com or follow Aggie Radio on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

—allisonallreddd@gmail.com

@allisonallreddd