Sara Moore
Science Editor
On Thursday, Oct. 29, The Goliard Literary Magazine hosted its first music event of the year, Spooky Covers. This year’s event was hosted at The Underground (UG) as part of their Halloween week programming. Spooky Covers gave students the opportunity to perform ghoulish songs for their peers, who packed the space. The UG was adorned with Halloween decor and orange lighting, which set the mood for this frighteningly fun event.
The event was opened by Jensen Kugler ’27 and Jonah Pollock ’29, president and secretary of The Goliard, respectively. Kugler and Pollock welcomed attendees to the event and thanked them for waiting, as the show began a little later than the posted start time. Both were dressed the part of ghost host: Kugler wore all black and Pollock’s face was painted like a skeleton.
The pair then introduced the first act of the night, Esther Lamb ’27, who sang a cover of “Disturbia” by Rihanna. This was Lamb’s first time performing at a Covers event.
“I chose to perform tonight because … I kept thinking, oh, I should really go to Covers, and then I was like, oh, I have never performed in them, I should give it a shot,” said Lamb. “It was so much fun, and everyone was so supportive, and I just feel so overjoyed to have tried it out.”
Kugler returned to the stage to perform “the lakes” by Taylor Swift and “Ghost” by the Indigo Girls. Kugler began playing the guitar over the summer, so both songs were accompanied by live instrumentation.
Next up was the duo Field Notes, composed of Mia Baumann ’27 and Leo Casalini ’29, who played “Long Black Veil” by Johnny Cash. Baumann, wearing a black veil, played guitar as both members sang Cash’s haunting melody.
Casalini then remained on stage for the next cover, “San Luis” by Gregory Alan Isakov. Audience members were led by Casilini in a sing-along of the chorus, which is a spine-chilling call of “oooooh.”
“[Covers] gives me the chance to share something I love with people … [and] to put myself out there,” Casalini shared. His cover of “San Luis” was the last acoustic performance of the night.
To mark the change in genre, Kugler stepped onto the stage and invited those gathered onto the dance floor as the music shifted to higher-energy songs. This led into a performance of “Season of the Witch” by Max Holt ’29. Holt provided some background on the song, which has been covered by many different artists, most notably Lana Del Rey for the soundtrack of “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.” Holt’s version mirrored Sam Gopal’s version and featured a sick electric guitar riff at the end of the performance.
The energy remained high as the band Miguel’s Purple Elephants, composed of Miguel Dehn ’29, Noah Sullivan ’29 and Sehoon Kim ’29, took to the stage, drawing a crowd of those in attendance. The band played two songs, “Creep” by Radiohead and “Fat Bottomed Girls” by Queen, both of which made use of the drums in the back of the stage. The drums, along with electric guitar and bass, got the crowd into the music as they danced in front of the stage.
The final act of the night was the band Scratched Vinyl, which featured Silas Baker ‘28, Gracyn Zerby ‘28, Dylan Stafford ‘28 and Henry Mattison ‘27. Scratched Vinyl performed a cover of “Supermassive Black Hole” by Muse. This song continued the energy of the last few performances and carried through once the event had ended. Kugler and Pollock ended the night by thanking all who attended and telling people to keep an eye out for future Covers events.
“What I love most about Covers is the community, how it brings people together. And the longer you’re here, the more impactful each cover becomes,” Pollock said. “You see the same people come, the same people perform, and they get better and better each year.”
Check out @goliard.lit.mag on Instagram for information about future Covers events.
