With the finals grind in full swing, a day of live music, art activities and inflatables is more than called for.
This past Saturday, the annual campus festival Spring Jam brought exactly that to Coffman Union, filling the afternoon and evening with an assortment of attractions and events all free for students.
Battle of the Bands
The centerpiece of the festivities was the final Battle of the Bands faceoff. Beginning at 4 p.m., the winners of the preliminary rounds in the Whole Music Club — Syncline, Blimey, Yellow Roses., Weeklong Weekend and Spiderlily — took to the stage on the Riverbend Plaza and played their hearts out.
Wearing matching green shirts, the four members of Syncline kicked off the afternoon. Their joyous indie rock jamming set the tone for the rest of the performances, encouraging audience members to bob along to the bands’ music.
Next up was Blimey, whose song “Vespa” got the audience squatting and jumping along to the chorus. They gave an energetic performance of their original hardcore indie rock music.
Yellow Roses. followed. All four musicians gave full-body performances, with guitarist Javier Soto sinking to his knees as he tore up his instrument with intensity. A small mosh pit formed in the audience to fully appreciate the punk music.
Weeklong Weekend ushered in the true Midwest emo energy. On stage, the band didn’t hold back from headbanging, and neither did their audience. The group concluded their set by calling out the University administration for not divesting from Israel and asking listeners to support Students for a Democratic Society.
The final student band was Spiderlily. Vocalist and guitarist Emily Wangberg’s striking black-and-white eye makeup hinted at the group’s alt-rock and punk music. After their set was done, audience members chanted for the group to play an additional song, for which they happily obliged
After all the bands finished, University President Rebecca Cunningham announced Weeklong Weekend as the winner.
Snacks and energizers
Refreshments were not far from the stage.
El Jefe food truck had Mexican street food available for purchase. If students were simply looking for an energy boost, both the Coca-Cola and Monster Energy promoters were handing out free cans.
String lights reached from the outdoor entertainment area to Coffman’s southern entrance. Complemented by pink flowering trees on the Riverbend Plaza and brightly colored balloon chains on the stairs, the back side of Coffman had never looked so alive.
The front lawn matched this whimsy.
Throughout the entire day, an inflatable shark slide sat menacingly near the front entrance — encouraging those who didn’t even plan on attending Spring Jam to stop by.
More to explore inside
Inside Coffman, there was a whole world to explore.
The casino and craft space started to fill up as the evening rolled in. One room housed poker tables, while the other had snacks and crafts.
Ada Vinger, a second-year student studying special education, bedazzled a rubber duck at the casino and craft station, gluing black and yellow gems to transform her duck into a bumblebee. She said she thought the activities at this year’s Spring Jam made it more exciting than the previous ones.
“I see people I wouldn’t normally see,” Vinger added. “Except for gen eds, I see the same people in all my classes.”
On the ground floor, numerous student groups sat at tables offering activities. One such was the University’s chapter of the United States Institute for Theatre Technology.
Rather than running an information booth, the club officers invited Spring Jam attendees to sit down and make their own gobo, an object that casts a shadow when placed in front of a light. They could carve their own designs into small aluminum foil trays and watch as the theatrical light cast their creation onto the wall in front of them.
The table was full of crafters all day, said Simona Simha, the club’s vice president and third-year student studying English and theatre arts. Although the majority had never heard of a gobo, they eagerly created fun designs, including the bat signal, Monster Energy logo and a little pig.
“We can be very isolated in the bubble of the theater community and the theater network,” Simha said. “But it’s great to go out and meet people and have a fun craft for them to do.”
Simha also pointed out technicians were behind much of Spring Jam — from the concerts outside to the activities in the Whole Music Club — so it was useful to have a table representing their efforts.
Another hot spot was the Clothing Closet.
Racks of pants, shirts, shoes and accessories invited people to peruse free of cost. If shoppers needed a bag to carry their thrifted things, Twin Cities Tees had a screen-printing station in the same room where they made and distributed tote bags adorned with the Spring Jam logo. Tables of iron-on patches were sprawled throughout, giving plenty of opportunities for customization.
On the first floor, lines for the henna and caricature artists stretched long down the hallways. For those who grew tired of waiting but still wanted something to show for their efforts, they could try their luck at the temporary tattoo station, where it was a free-for-all to cut and apply the cutest tattoos.
While Timberwolves and Lynx DJ Mad Mardigan put on a high-energy show outside — complete with an air guitar competition — a live band carried karaoke in the Whole. From classics like Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” to recent hits like Chappell Roan’s “Red Wine Supernova,” the band accompanied solo singers and groups as they bravely bore it all on the stage.
By the time the end of the spring semester rolls around, the energy around campus tends to take on a tense, exhausted air. This year’s Spring Jam provided an escape from that pressure, bringing the student body together for a few hours of music, creation and fun.
