Rain Moves Rocktoberfest and Cripples Attendance

By ARIANA JOHNSON

Food, fun, a carefree attitude and of course music, pretty much sums up the festivities of last Friday’s Rocktoberfest. The bands, We Shot the Moon, the Green Boys and the Hounds all performed live in Great Hall for the annual rock celebration.

A handful of people came out to enjoy music and free pulled pork sandwiches compliments of Allman’s Barbeque and the students of the Class Council.

The crowd had a disappointing turnout, filling only a fourth of the Great Hall. Originally, Rocktoberfest was supposed to be on Ball Circle but had to be moved to the Great Hall because rain was forecasted.

Two of the bands, the Green Boys and the Hounds, are from the area. Josh Ferrari, a Mary Washington alumnus, is the lead singer of the Hounds and was recognizable to the audience. The other group, We Shot The Moon, is from San Diego, Calif. and is currently on a college tour.

Charles Reed, a senior at UMW, happily said, “Rocktoberfest is a great opportunity for students to get their minds off of their school work and just have fun.”

Some students stopped by Great Hall just to grab a free sandwich and a cup while others actually came to watch the bands perform.

A few students from Virginia Wesleyan were in attendance to show their support of the Hounds, their campus band. They were surprised to see how few chairs were set up in Great Hall, considering that it was a campus wide event.

In between each band performance, there was an extended break for the bands to set up, and students became restless and chatty during these breaks.

One student said that there should have at least been background music playing while each band got ready to perform to prevent awkwardness.

Ryan Gramlich, the guitarist and vocalist of the Hounds, joked about how he was expecting a whole crowd of people to show up. But in the end, he was satisfied with the amount of people in attendance and had a great time performing.

Sarah Staunton, a senior at UMW, said, “I expected a well-known band to perform, and the event should have been outside like it was last year. There would have been a bigger turnout since there is more space outside.”

Last year’s Rocktoberfest was held on Ball Circle and featured “We the Kings.” The turnout was more than quadruple the amount of people in attendance than this year. Since the event was outside, in the middle of campus, students were much more aware of Rocktoberfest’s presence and felt much more inclined to go.

Overall, all three bands put on a great show and the people in attendance seemed to be enjoying themselves. Hopefully, next year’s Rocktoberfest will be able to be held outside in Ball Circle where it belongs instead of getting rained out, so more people will come out to see what great music the bands have to offer.