The excitement in the air was clear as I walked towards the Athletics parking lot on Sept. 8. With a line that wrapped almost all the way around the back side of the Fieldhouse, people were just itching to enter the parking lot where they would eventually witness not only the closing ceremonies to their first week of university but also the main attraction, Marianas Trench.
When the gates opened at 7 p.m., people flooded into the parking lot at full speed. Many fans ran to the front barrier once they were through the security checkpoint, with some skipping and screaming with excitement and others explaining loudly that they had waited hours in line to ensure their spot at the front.
The first act, Almost Kennedy, took the stage with great energy and seemed to distract the crowd from the quickly plummeting temperature. Between acts, the crowd was nothing but well-behaved, even breaking out into song at more than one point. They sang “All To Myself,” a hit song by Marianas Trench and another time surprisingly, to sing “O Canada,” which, for some reason, had my heart swelling.
The Julian Taylor Band was next and everyone seemed to love them. Both the lead singer and the crowd were interactive and were dancing, clapping, and singing—regular concert things, really, but things that usually seem to be marked as “uncool” as far as Fall Orientation concerts are concerned—at least on the student end here at Carleton.
As the Julian Taylor Band exited the stage, it was as though any warmth left in the breeze and the patience of the crowd did too. As the Fall Orientation co-ordinators took the stage to officially close the week and introduce Marianas Trench it was easy to tell that the crowd was restless. Yet, after the lights went down and the waiting was finally over it was as if the restlessness was never there to begin with.
Marianas Trench came out on stage in full force and had the crowd singing and dancing from the second they waltzed on stage to the second they walked off, even meeting some fans at the end of the show. Lead singer Josh Ramsay was nothing but constant energy, even in between songs. He joked about feeling smarter now after having the chance to play at a school, he laughed along when the crowd began its famed frosh week anti-University of Ottawa chanting and he put on one amazing show with the rest of his band.
Song after song, the crowd kept singing. It was clear they would have stayed there all night despite the cold. Yet, all good things must come to an end. With that, we wave goodbye to another Fall Orientation, and wave hello to a new school year and I must say, what a way to do it.
Photo by Aaron Hemens
