Concerts now: three concerts in February

February was a blockbuster month for concerts at Grinnell, with concert coordinators hosting three concerts on campus — MyaaP, Dua Saleh and Wishy. 

“There was no plan to make February this big month of music — kind of how it worked out,” said Ethan Reske `27, a concert coordinator. “But we were really excited about it. It worked out really well. It was a good month, because February … is in the middle of winter to spring break.”

Two concerts were hosted in Gardner Lounge over the third weekend of February alone — Dua Saleh on Friday, Feb. 21 and Wishy on Sunday, Feb. 23. The atmosphere was lively at both concerts. 

Hridi Ghosh `28 said she enjoyed the Dua Saleh concert. 

“I’m excited that there’s a cool, queer artist from Minneapolis coming to Grinnell,” Ghosh said. 

Wet Willies, a student band with Hana Hashimoto `28, Kanata Mizutani `28, Jason Chigabatia `28, Aarav Sharma `28 and Wilson Yu `28 opened for Dua Saleh. It was their second time performing in front of a live audience. 

“High praises for my whole band,” Yu said. “I couldn’t have asked for better bandmates.”

Reske said that the concert coordinators started the booking process about two months in advance for the February concerts. The process is simultaneously both different and similar from when longtime former concerts coordinator Georgia Dentel booked acts over 50 years ago. 

“A lot of times we look for artists that are routed, which would just mean that they’re already in the area, so that can just be that’s usually like artists on a tour,” Reske said. “We find them at a point where they’re in the Midwest or somewhere around and then after we have these conversations, we can write offer letters and send those off and see if they’re willing to accept.”

The concerts committee is already planning concerts for the rest of the semester. 

“We’re just trying to have more shows, get people to come out and just really sort of liven up the campus life,” Reske said. “We do have some shows we’re setting up for later in the semester, all post-spring break, and we’re working on confirming those. It’s going to be more hip-hop sound, maybe some real pop.”

The concert coordinators are aiming to expand the scope of music they bring to Grinnell.

“Right now is pretty stereotypical liberal arts, in that we have a lot of indie bands show up, and a lot of primarily white group members,” Reske said. “We’re trying to branch out and hit different genres and hit different demographics of artists, and try to find a place where people don’t only connect with the music, they can connect with the artists themselves.”