Thunderstorm derails Big Agg Show during Weeks of Welcome
The Big Agg Show on the quad was cut short by inclement weather Thursday night.
Hundreds of students, swarming the quad for the annual concert, were sent home prematurely by media program coordinator Nathan Laursen due to safety concerns over the incoming lightning storm.
The event, the latest in a long line of Weeks of Welcome activities, was slated to feature six total bands, including the headliner, Foreign Figures, and opening act, SorryMom, a new local group comprised mostly of Utah State students.
Foreign Figures was set to perform on USU campus for the second time in five months; at the end of April, they opened for X Ambassadors in 2019’s End of Year Bash. Since then, the band has toured for their first album, “Spectrum”, and watched their song “Cold War” cross 1 million streams on Spotify.
According to Foreign Figures team member Kylee Shaffer, more music is in production for this fall.
SorryMom, on the other hand, took the stage for only their second time ever on Thursday. Although all the members have played in bands previously, SorryMom has only been together for about two months, following the addition of Morgan Fish, lead guitarist, to their ranks.
“I went and caught [Fish] in a lake,” said Spencer Felix, bass guitarist. “He’s four years younger, but he plays like he’s twenty years wiser.”
Felix originally played lead guitar for the band when they were only a trio going by the name of Someone Else’s Kids. Shane Wegner, drums, and Daniel Schabert, lead vocals, retained their original roles.
“We’re super stoked to even be on the list with some of these [bands],” said Schabert. “We’ve been blessed with the gigs we’ve gotten so far.”
The young band hopes to remain together for much longer, following the next month of exciting performance opportunities.
All he can hope for, said Schabert, is that “our music lives forever like the Beatles.”
The Big Agg Show, beginning at 7 PM, drew large crowds for the first three bands, SorryMom, Friends At The Falls, and Harpers, until lightning and heavy rain showed up early into Motion Coaster’s set around 9 PM. Despite this, dozens of students remained on the quad dancing along to an equally unfazed Motion Coaster. Granted one more song to close out the night, the band performed “September” by Earth, Wind, and Fire.
“It was so fun. The rain really made it,” remarked sophomore Sarah Thompson, who braved the elements with her friends. “And [the bands] are coming back, so it’s the best of both worlds.”
Roseburg and Foreign Figures, who were not able to take the stage, will be returning to campus to perform their sets. The day they return is yet to be determined.
“It’s really cool to see . . . how music connects all of us,” said events director Sierra Benson. “That’s something that I really enjoy seeing, making those memories the first two weeks of school and really knowing that we are part of the Aggie family and connecting to that through music.”
The Big Agg Show is the crown jewel of the collaboration between Aggie Radio and USUSA Student Events for the Weeks of Welcome, the two opening weeks of orientation, recruitment opportunities, and activities on USU campus.
“I really wanted to make the Big Agg Show something that can really connect both the community and the new students at USU,” said Benson. “They want to be social, they want to make new friends. A lot of these events are really good ways to do that.”
Upcoming events include high stakes bingo on Monday and a 2000s themed dance on Friday complete with free Silly Bandz.
—William Bultez
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