Jake Summerlin, Campus Carrier Staff Reporter
Students gathered on Deerfield lawn Friday night for a Woodstock-themed Late Night show headed by the Morton-Lemley residence staff.
The event featured live performances from faculty and students for a night of exotic colors and creative music. It reflected many aspects of Woodstock such as tie-dyed hair bands and hula-hoops, and the music really emulated the 60s-era cultural touchstone.
Live performances included those from Jim Watkins, associate professor of English, Jeffrey Lidke, associate professor of religion, Dana Wakefield, professor of curriculum and instruction, senior Joel Keene and junior Wesley Scheidt. The bands made for an entertaining show with cool instruments and colorful sounds.
Watkins’ band, called Miwase, is a world music ensemble featuring a variety of multi-cultural music, including Afro-pop, Reggae, Middle-Eastern and New Orleans Funk.
“The show was a lot of fun,” Watkins said. “The organizers did a great job of pulling everything together and the student turnout was very good. We are happy we were invited to perform.”
Accompanied with faculty bands was a student performance by Scheidt, who likes to combine different genres into his music.
“The best way to describe the music I play in this setting would probably be ‘folk rock,’” Scheidt said. “I’d like to think that the groups I play with have a little bit of jazz, blues, bluegrass, folk and classical sensibility mixed into them.”
Many students were satisfied with the last Late Night event of the year, the brainstorming and preparation for which began in August with the Morton-Lemley residence staff.
Kelly Wiggins, a sophomore and an RA at Morton-Lemley, said that Late Nights are taken very seriously amongst the Residence Life staff.
“It’s kind of an understood competition between residence halls,” Wiggins said. “We all try to throw the best one. That’s why we start planning so early.”
Freshman Josh Billian has been to each residence hall’s Late Night show, and he said Woodstock might have been the best of the semester.
“I thought the music was very good, and it was good to see both students and faculty involved,” Billian said. “It was an awesome atmosphere to be a part of.”
As for the music, it had a lasting effect on some students. For freshman Grant Cooksey it was spectacle not to be missed.
“It’s inspirational,” Cooksey said. “It makes me wonder why Phish isn’t here.”